scant
Americanadjective
-
scanter,
comparative
-
scantest
superlative
-
barely sufficient in amount or quantity; not abundant; almost inadequate.
to do scant justice.
-
limited; meager; not large.
a scant amount.
- Synonyms:
- restricted, small, scanty
-
barely amounting to as much as indicated.
a scant two hours; a scant cupful.
-
having an inadequate or limited supply (usually followed byof ).
scant of breath.
verb (used with object)
-
scants,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scanted,
past participle, past
-
scanting
present participle
adverb
adjective
-
scarcely sufficient; limited
he paid her scant attention
-
(prenominal) slightly short of the amount indicated; bare
a scant ten inches
-
having a short supply (of)
verb
-
to limit in size or quantity
-
to provide with a limited or inadequate supply of
-
to treat in a slighting or inadequate manner
adverb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scantsimple
-
scantssimple
-
have scantedperfect
-
has scantedperfect
-
am scantingprogressive
-
are scantingprogressive
-
is scantingprogressive
-
have been scantingperfect progressive
-
has been scantingperfect progressive
Past
-
scantedsimple
-
had scantedperfect
-
was scantingprogressive
-
were scantingprogressive
-
had been scantingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scant
1325–75; Middle English (adj.) < Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr short
Explanation
Scant is an adjective that means "a tiny amount," like your scant attendance at practice this week that results in being benched from the big game. Scant is also a verb, that means "to supply sparingly" — don't scant with the brownies, or I will keep asking for more. Scant also means "to deal with inadequately or carelessly." When you scant the reports on homelessness, they are so superficial on data that they don't reflect the real problem. Scant comes from the Old Norse word skamt, meaning "short, brief."
Vocabulary lists containing scant
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
This Week in Words: October 21- 27, 2018
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
30 GRE Words Beginning with "Q" "R" and "S"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
ETF investors, Panigirtzoglou points out, bought into the first South Korean selloff using levered and unlevered funds, but so far in October’s Korea selloff 2.0, evidence of this buying is scant.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026
There’s scant evidence that Mercedes undermined workers’ rights or violated U.S. labor law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Research on chemicals in clothing is scant and no ordinary clothing has been shown to cause systemic illness in consumers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Tens of thousands of people walk in and out of Dodger Stadium on any given night, paying scant attention to the trees, plants, and other foliage surrounding it on all sides.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
It did calm me a bit, having something to do, and Sander was as good as his word, though he got me to the stage with a scant half-minute to spare.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
With new Simpson revelations ever scanter, the connected tale of his longtime friend A.C.
From Time Magazine Archive
On scant notice and even scanter knowledge, the TV executive must decide whether the threat is news to be covered, or a cruel, senseless display that the cameras will only encourage.
From Time Magazine Archive
From this time Be something scanter of your maiden presence; Set your entreatments at a higher rate Than a command to parley.
From Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Jim rather unsteadily filled; I emulated, but to scanter measure.
From Desert Dust by J. Clinton Shepherd
There's not a bourgeois couple in the land Who, should dire duty rule their severance, Could part with scanter scandal than could we.
From The Dynasts by Thomas Hardy
I acknowledge I am a sample group of one, with only the scantest evidence to work with.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
If all you have is a faint recollection that a distant relative once bought you a bond, NS&I can find out for sure with the scantest of information, says Ms Waters.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2022
The marker is engraved with the scantest details of Lyles’s life: “Born May 8, 1898. Killed on Smoot’s Dredging Machine Sept. 1, 1917.”
From Washington Post ● Jun. 8, 2020
It has rounded corners and just the scantest of frames above and on the sides of it.
From The Verge ● Sep. 11, 2017
Only by the expensive construction of cemented cisterns and occasional dams can the rancher, stockman and miner of the region hoard for his scantest needs enough of this precious fluid.
From The Grand Canyon of Arizona; how to see it by George Wharton James
As the National Association of Scholars will soon publish in a comprehensive piece by S. Stanley Young and Warren Kindzierski, the Reference Manual pervasively scants the effects of modern science’s irreproducibility crisis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
While “Kissinger” scants the tapes, it leans precariously on one source.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2025
In her impressionistic portrait, Brown moves some events in time, combines others and scants certain family members — entirely omitting, for example, William’s son, John, a famous scientist in his own right.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2016
She stresses Joan the outward realist and scants Joan the inner mystic.
From Time Magazine Archive
The time scants us for a dinner before the service in the church at Gernicour, and we must hasten or we be late.
From The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Fanny Y. Cory
Hospitals and heroic interventions got the large investments; incrementalists were scanted.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 15, 2017
The implications of the technology, on the other hand, are somewhat scanted.
From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2016
Earlier biographies — the best is Lyndall Gordon’s — have somewhat scanted Eliot’s American childhood and youth, which is one reason why this new book is so valuable.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2015
Sadly scanted, however, are the American artists who heeded the siren call of Orientalism.
From Time Magazine Archive
Is love a scanted portion, That we should hoard thereof?
From The Second Book of Modern Verse; a selection from the work of contemporaneous American poets by Jessie Belle Rittenhouse
But focusing too intently on the play’s stimulating politics risks scanting its humor and its family dynamics.
From New York Times ● Feb. 22, 2017
Brecht made the astronomer into an opportunist and, scanting history, into a sensualist.
From Time Magazine Archive
What some describe as today's apathy or scanting of heaven, he calls health.
From Time Magazine Archive
Volumes as heavily freighted with plates, maps and other cargo as this one have a way of scanting facts for four-color fanfares.
From Time Magazine Archive
The wind scanting upon us, we could not fetch the land, so that we were forced to ply to windward.
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
