measly
Americanadjective
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Informal.
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contemptibly small, meager, or slight.
They paid me a measly fifteen dollars for a day's work.
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wretchedly bad or unsatisfactory.
a measly performance.
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infected with measles, as an animal or its flesh.
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pertaining to or resembling measles.
adjective
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informal meagre in quality or quantity
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(of meat) measled
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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
The measly tip she left for the waiter.
From Literature
“Well,” said Zeke, who felt like this was an awful lot of pressure on one measly apology to a lying, bullying, wannabe supervillain, “I guess so.”
From Literature
In fact, XLP has been a laggard for some time, with owners seeing a measly 16% gain over the past five years, a period when the S&P 500 gained nearly 85%.
From Barron's
In fact, XLP has been a laggard for some time, with owners seeing a measly 16% gain over the past five years, a period when the S&P 500 gained nearly 85%.
From Barron's
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.
