measly
Americanadjective
-
Informal.
-
contemptibly small, meager, or slight.
They paid me a measly fifteen dollars for a day's work.
-
wretchedly bad or unsatisfactory.
a measly performance.
-
-
infected with measles, as an animal or its flesh.
-
pertaining to or resembling measles.
adjective
-
informal meagre in quality or quantity
-
(of meat) measled
-
having or relating to measles
Etymology
Origin of measly
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Energy stocks are the market’s big winners so far this year, jumping 20% when the S&P 500 is up a measly 2%.
From Barron's • Feb. 11, 2026
Yet Newcastle never looked like producing a similar moment as Sunday's game went on, and forwards Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade mustered just a measly shot between them.
From BBC • Jan. 25, 2026
Our measly four seasons are insufficient in describing the way nature undulates around us, week to week and month to month.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
Adams, for his part, has not seen his numbers crack 12 percent in any major survey since July; the most recent Beacon Research poll found him sitting at a measly 7 percent.
From Slate • Sep. 29, 2025
He rolled snake eyes and moved up two measly desks.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
