Dictionary.com

exiguous

[ ig-zig-yoo-uhs, ik-sig- ]
/ ɪgˈzɪg yu əs, ɪkˈsɪg- /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR exiguous

adjective

scanty; meager; small; slender: exiguous income.

QUIZZES

BECOME A PRO CHEF WITH THIS EXQUISITE CUISINE QUIZ!

Even if you can't be a professional chef, you can at least talk like one with this vocabulary quiz.
Question 1 of 9
You may have read the word "simmer" in a recipe or two, but what does it really mean?
To cook in water that begins cold and then reaches a boil.
To stew in a sauce for a long time.
To cook in water, just below boiling temperature.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of exiguous

First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin exiguus “scanty in measure or number, small,” equivalent to exig(ere) “to drive out, measure, exact” + -uus adjective suffix; see origin at exigent,-ous

OTHER WORDS FROM exiguous

ex·i·gu·i·ty [ek-si-gyoo-i-tee], /ˌɛk sɪˈgyu ɪ ti/, ex·ig·u·ous·ness, nounex·ig·u·ous·ly, adverb

Words nearby exiguous

ex hypothesi, exigeant, exigency, exigent, exigible, exiguous, exilarch, exile, exilic, Ex-Im, eximious
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to exiguous

bare, confined, diminutive, inadequate, limited, little, meager, narrow, negligible, paltry, petty, poor, restricted, skimpy, slender, slight, small, spare, sparse, tenuous

Example sentences from the Web for exiguous

British Dictionary definitions for exiguous

exiguous
/ (ɪɡˈzɪɡjʊəs, ɪkˈsɪɡ-) /

adjective

scanty or slender; meagrean exiguous income

Derived forms of exiguous

exiguity (ˌɛksɪˈɡjuːɪtɪ) or exiguousness, nounexiguously, adverb

Word Origin for exiguous

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012