scanty

American  

[skan-tee] / ˈskæn ti /

adjective

scantier, scantiest

1. scant in amount, quantity, etc.; barely sufficient.

   Antonyms:

   ample, plentiful

2. meager; not adequate.

   Antonyms:

   ample, plentiful

3. lacking amplitude in extent or compass.

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noun

plural

scanties

1. scanties, very brief underpants, especially for women.

scanty British  

/ ˈskæntɪ /

adjective

1. limited; barely enough; meagre

2. insufficient; inadequate

3. lacking fullness; small

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Related Words

Scanty, meager, sparse refer to insufficiency or deficiency in quantity, number, etc. Scanty denotes smallness or insufficiency of quantity, number, supply, etc.: a scanty supply of food. Meager indicates that something is poor, stinted, or inadequate: meager fare; a meager income. Sparse applies particularly to that which grows thinly or is thinly strewn or sown, often over a wide area: sparse vegetation; a sparse population.

Other Word Forms

• scantily
  adverb
• scantiness
  noun
• unscanty
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of scanty

First recorded in 1650–60; scant + -y ¹; scanty ( def. 4 ) blend of scanty and panties

Explanation

We refer to an amount or thing that is not quite enough as scanty, or lacking. It's an adjective used to describe something that doesn't offer enough, as in "farmers having a scanty crop in a drought year." The adjective scanty comes from the Old Norse scamt, which means "short or brief," and so suggests a small amount. The word usually suggests a meager amount, and can refer to anything that is barely sufficient. Someone trying to stretch a meal might offer scanty servings. On a humorous note, a Roaring Twenties flapper referred to her underwear as scanties.

Example Sentences

Scanty details of the operation disclosed that the U.S. airborne troops dropped in the western part of the target area, while the British jumpers and glider-men landed in the eastern zone.

From Time Magazine Archive

Scanty reports from Bolivia last week indicated that President Villarroel and his Government of young Army officers and intellectuals were again at war with the tin companies.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Scanty Stock we set our hearts upon Still dwindles and declines until anon, Like Snow upon the Desert’s dusty Face, It lights us for an hour and then—is gone.

From The Rubaiyat of Ohow Dryyam With Apologies to Omar by Duff, J. L.

Scanty profits of the commerce of the islandsNumber 89.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 27 of 55 1636-37 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Robertson, James Alexander

Scanty indeed were their prices, scantier were her earnings, and scantier still the daily fare which the poor needle-woman was able to set before her children.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 89, March, 1865 by Various

Related Words

• insufficient
• meager
• scant
• skimpy
• sparse