scanty

[ skan-tee ]

/ ˈskæn ti /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR scanty ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, scant·i·er, scant·i·est.

scant in amount, quantity, etc.; barely sufficient.

meager; not adequate.

lacking amplitude in extent or compass.

noun, plural scant·ies.

scanties, very brief underpants, especially for women.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of scanty

1650–60; scant + -y¹; (def 4) blend of scanty and panties

SYNONYMS FOR scanty

1, 2. Scanty, meager, sparse refer to insufficiency or deficiency in quantity, number, etc. Scanty denotes smallness or insufficiency of quantity, number, supply, etc.: a scanty supply of food. Meager indicates that something is poor, stinted, or inadequate: meager fare; a meager income. Sparse applies particularly to that which grows thinly or is thinly strewn or sown, often over a wide area: sparse vegetation; a sparse population.

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ANTONYMS FOR scanty

1, 2. plentiful, ample.

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Related formsscant·i·ly, adverbscant·i·ness, nounun·scant·y, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for scantily

One is forced to ask, what on earth was Andrew doing hanging out with scantily clad teenagers?
Buckingham Palace Disputes Sex Allegations Against Prince ‘Randy Andy’|Tom Sykes|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Her book, for example, does not discuss her buzzed-about, scantily clad Maxim photo shoot from last year, and so neither do we.
'Boy Meets World' Star Danielle Fishel Is OK with Being Topanga Forever|Kevin Fallon|September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Tell be about the scene on the sofa where you and Lady Macbeth are plotting while scantily dressed.
Ethan Hawke On His Murderous, Seductive Turn as Macbeth|Janice Kaplan|November 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It features a scantily clad woman wearing a balaclava and holding a sign championing the dissident feminist anti-Putin punk band.
Miley Cyrus Twerking, Usher as Michael Jackson & More Viral Videos|The Daily Beast Video|March 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST

The combination of scantily clad, attractive women and scantily clad, corpulent men makes Philip Roth's imagination look feminist.
All the Israeli Ladies|Elisheva Goldberg, Raphael Magarik|June 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
When the cavity is shallow, it is often only scantily lined with moss and a few fine roots.
Life Histories of North American Wood Warblers Part One and Part Two|Arthur Bent
People were so scantily clad that they could not come out to offer a glass of water.
The Red Cross in Peace and War|Clara Barton
I know my poor weak intellects, most noble lord, and how scantily they have profited by my hard painstaking.
Imaginary Conversations and Poems|Walter Savage Landor
The hall was now but scantily supplied with guests; the runaways and wounded having diminished the numbers to some half-score.
Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 1 (of 2)|John Roby
May's glowing sun, shining through the scantily covered branches, made dancing motes of heat wave above the surface of red clay.
A Tar-Heel Baron|Mabell Shippie Clarke Pelton

British Dictionary definitions for scantily

scanty

/ (ˈskæntɪ) /

adjective scantier or scantiest

limited; barely enough; meagre

insufficient; inadequate

lacking fullness; small

Derived Formsscantily, adverbscantiness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for scantily

scantily

adv.

1774; see scanty + -ly (2).

scanty

adj.

1650s, "meager, barely sufficient for use;" 1701, "too small, limited in scope," from scant + -y (2). Related: Scantiness (1560s). Scanties (n.) "underwear" (especially for women) attested from 1928.