meager
AmericanRelated Words
See scanty.
Other Word Forms
- meagerly adverb
- meagerness noun
Etymology
Origin of meager
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English megre, from Old French maigre, from Latin macer “lean”
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.
Her father was the rector of two parishes and ran a small boys’ school to supplement the family’s meager income.
From Los Angeles Times
Now firms are reluctant to accept meager returns—and lower performance-based compensation for employees—on companies they bought at generous valuations during the boom times.
Gen X endured the dot-com bust, the Great Recession and the pandemic, which all took swipes at their meager nest eggs.
From MarketWatch
Given the meager reduction in payments coupled with the long-term risks, are 50-year mortgages worth considering?
From MarketWatch
“Often, plans want an additional premium for dental coverage, and that coverage could be pretty meager and not include the big-dollar stuff like dentures or implants,” she said.
From MarketWatch
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.
