meager
AmericanSynonym Usage
See scanty.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of meager
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English megre, from Old French maigre, from Latin macer “lean”
Explanation
Meager means small and often applies to portions. Your mother may only allow you a meager serving of chocolate cake, and you may need to eat a meager serving of veggies in order to deserve that dessert. Meager doesn't mean adequate — it means not enough. People with a limited supply of food may try to subsist on meager portions. People who make a meager amount of money probably have a hard time making rent. Meager and emaciated both derive from the Old French maigre. If you can remember that you will look emaciated if your diet is meager, you’ll use the word correctly.
Vocabulary lists containing meager
List 1
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Tuck Everlasting
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"Of Mice and Men"
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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.
A meager attention span is a big part of the problem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Part-time rivers and waterways, and the meager rainfall in Baja and in California, gave form to what are called riparian water rights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Sosa said his job is to find ways to feed the most vulnerable people in the city, including doctors and professionals now living on meager pensions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
And as musicians rely on longer and often more expensive tours to offset meager streaming income, the analysts said promoters sometimes make performances abroad part of the package.
From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026
His meager hair was plastered to his forehead and the back of his neck, with small pieces flopping this way and that as he floundered in the shallows.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
