meager

[ mee-ger ]

/ ˈmi gər /

deficient in quantity or quality; lacking fullness or richness; scanty; inadequate: a meager salary; meager fare; a meager harvest.

having little flesh; lean; thin: a body meager with hunger.

Nearby words

Also especially British, mea·gre.

1300–50; Middle English megre < Old French maigre < Latin macer lean

SYNONYMS FOR meager

1. See scanty. 2. gaunt, spare, skinny.

Related formsmea·ger·ly, adverbmea·ger·ness, noun

Especially in a country where the minimum wage is a meager $3.00 an hour.
House of the Witch: The Renegade Craft Brewers of Panama|Jeff Campagna|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Rising to retrieve it, I offer her what meager reassurance I can muster.
The Stacks: Grateful Dead I Have Known|Ed McClanahan|August 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He called on his parents not to accept any “meager compensation” for his death.
Medieval Cruelty in Modern Times: ISIS Thugs Behead American Journalist|Christopher Dickey|August 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Look through that PDF I just linked to and feast on the meager amounts earmarked for democracy and assistance programs.
Is It Just Me or Is the World Exploding? So Why Isn’t Obama Doing More?|Michael Tomasky|July 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Personal consumption expenditures—people buying stuff—grew at a meager one percent rate in the first quarter.
How Obamacare Helped Crash the Economy|Daniel Gross|June 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The school period of one hour or an hour and a half has been found by most teachers to be too meager for a healthy class life.
The Boy and the Sunday School|John L. Alexander
With a snarl, Maria thrust her hand into her meager bosom, and drew forth a little bag with its draw-strings.
The Wilderness Trail|Frank Williams
He ate some apples, and washed down the meager meal with water from a spring.
Once Upon A Planet|J. J. Allerton
It was part of my plan, this meager manning of the bandit ship.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, November, 1930|Various
She had paid the express charges out of her own meager funds.
Whispers at Dawn|Roy J. Snell