meager

especially British, mea·gre

[mee-ger]

adjective

1. deficient in quantity or quality; lacking fullness or richness; scanty; inadequate.

   a meager salary; meager fare; a meager harvest.

2. having little flesh; lean; thin.

   a body meager with hunger.

   Synonyms: skinny, spare, gaunt

3. maigre.

Other Word Forms

• meagerly adverb
• meagerness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of meager¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English megre, from Old French maigre, from Latin macer “lean”

Synonym Study

See scanty.

Example Sentences

Ricardo, who earns a meager income as a day laborer, shares his small single-family house with 18 other people, including his three children, parents and other extended family.

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National college football writers and other pundits tweeted about the athletic department’s massive deficit, meager NIL resources and failed leadership.

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In Louisville, back when I was a public radio reporter spending my meager Derby winnings, a now-shuttered burrito joint near the track served something that was essentially nacho fries: queso, grilled meat, pico, sour cream.

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A meager snowpack in the Rocky Mountains last winter added to the strains on the river.

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On the field his contributions were more meager, with Campos allowing 51 goals in 43 games over two seasons.

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Related Words

• insufficient 
• mere 
• minimum 
• miserable 
• paltry 
• puny 
• scant 
• scanty 
• skimpy 
• sparse 
• tenuous