exiguous
[ig-zig-yoo-uh s, ik-sig-]
- scanty; meager; small; slender: exiguous income.
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Origin of exiguous
1645–55; < Latin exiguus scanty in measure or number, small, equivalent to exig(ere) (see exigent) + -uus deverbal adj. suffix
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
bareconfineddiminutiveinadequatelimitedlittlemeagernarrownegligiblepaltrypettypoorrestrictedskimpyslenderslightsmallsparesparsetenuousExamples from the Web for exiguous
Historical Examples
There are plenty of references to them indeed, but they are exiguous and dull.
Capitals of the NorthlandsIan C. Hannah
For the inflated he cherishes a noiseless, most exiguous bodkin.
Francis Beaumont: DramatistCharles Mills Gayley
Liosha joined us, accompanied by a porter, carrying their exiguous baggage.
JafferyWilliam J. Locke
Often the Signal Office gives you the most exiguous information.
Adventures of a Despatch RiderW. H. L. Watson
Flora saw her father trembling in all his exiguous length, though he held himself stiffer than ever if that was possible.
ChanceJoseph Conrad
exiguous
- scanty or slender; meagrean exiguous income
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin exiguus, from exigere to weigh out; see exigent
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for exiguous
adj.
"scanty," 1650s, from Latin exiguus "small, petty, paltry, scanty in measure or number," from exigere (see exact).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper