meager

[ mee-ger ]

/ ˈmi gər /

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR meager ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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.

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RELATED WORDS

barely, inadequately, skimpily

Nearby words

meadowlark, meadows's syndrome, meadowsweet, meads, meadville, meager, meagre, meal, meal moth, meal ticket, mealie

Also especially British, mea·gre.

Origin of meager

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

SYNONYMS FOR meager

1 See scanty.

2 gaunt, spare, skinny.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR meager ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

mea·ger·ly, adverbmea·ger·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for meagerly

No association is so humdrum that it cannot be quickened into life, no matter how long it has been meagerly taking its course.
The Good Housekeeping Marriage Book|Various
In too many instances, the sublimity of genius was meagerly illustrated by these aspirants for notoriety.
The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and Fashion|Henry Lunettes
It was a tiny room, whitewashed; meagerly and nondescriptly furnished.
Out of the Air|Inez Haynes Irwin
They were all children, meagerly clothed, badly nourished, ill developed.
And Thus He Came|Cyrus Townsend Brady

In France, indeed, if one did not do a great many things before breakfast, the work of life would be but meagerly performed.
The Galaxy|Various