scanty

[skan-tee]

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.

Origin of scanty

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

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

Synonyms for scanty

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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.

Antonyms for scanty

1, 2. plentiful, ample.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for scantily

almost, scarcely, hardly, seldom, rarely, partially, just, scantily, imperceptibly, infrequently, slightly, badly, incompetently, incompletely, ineffectively, inefficiently, meagerly, partly, ineffectually, ineptly

Examples from the Web for scantily

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of scantily

Scantily furnished, and with a waxed floor, it opened into one of the side-verandas.
End of the Tether
Joseph Conrad
They were scantily furnished, and of comforts there were none.
The Crooked House
Brandon Fleming
The bothy was but scantily furnished, though it consisted of two rooms.
Auld Licht Idylls
J. M. Barrie
All who lived with her, though well-dressed, were scantily fed and over-worked.
Clotelle
William Wells Brown
We tore off parts of the clothes from our scantily clad bodies.
Land of the Burnt Thigh
Edith Eudora Kohl

British Dictionary definitions for scantily

scanty

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

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.