adjective
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limited; barely enough; meagre
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insufficient; inadequate
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lacking fullness; small
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of scanty
First recorded in 1650–60; scant + -y 1; scanty ( def. 4 ) blend of scanty and panties
Explanation
We refer to an amount or thing that is not quite enough as scanty, or lacking. It's an adjective used to describe something that doesn't offer enough, as in "farmers having a scanty crop in a drought year." The adjective scanty comes from the Old Norse scamt, which means "short or brief," and so suggests a small amount. The word usually suggests a meager amount, and can refer to anything that is barely sufficient. Someone trying to stretch a meal might offer scanty servings. On a humorous note, a Roaring Twenties flapper referred to her underwear as scanties.
Vocabulary lists containing scanty
On the Origin of Species
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The Bridge Home
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"Declaration of Sentiments," Vocabulary from the public document
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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.
Scanty details of the operation disclosed that the U.S. airborne troops dropped in the western part of the target area, while the British jumpers and glider-men landed in the eastern zone.
From Time Magazine Archive
Scanty reports from Bolivia last week indicated that President Villarroel and his Government of young Army officers and intellectuals were again at war with the tin companies.
From Time Magazine Archive
Scanty woods they were, indeed; just a few scrub pines growing out of a bank of clean white sand.
From Days Off And Other Digressions by Van Dyke, Henry
Scanty as it is we have not even the advantage of contemporary authority for any portion of it.
From Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 7 A Series of Pen and Pencil Sketches of the Lives of More Than 200 of the Most Prominent Personages in History by Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis)
The dress of a bridal princess! cries Mrs. Scanty, and for one night's wear too!
From The Heiress; a comedy, in five acts by Burgoyne, John
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.
