meager

mea·ger

adj \ˈmē-gər\

Definition of MEAGER

1

: having little flesh : thin

2

a : lacking desirable qualities (as richness or strength) <leading a meager life> b : deficient in quality or quantity <a meager diet>

— mea·ger·ly adverb

— mea·ger·ness noun

Variants of MEAGER

mea·ger or mea·gre \ˈmē-gər\

Examples of MEAGER

1. Every morning he eats a meager breakfast of toast and coffee.
2. We'll have to do the best we can with this year's meager harvest.
3. She came to this country with a fairly meager English vocabulary, but she is learning more words every day.
4. They suffered through several meager years at the beginning of their marriage.
5. Although she's now rich and famous, she remembers her meager beginnings as a child from a poor family.

Origin of MEAGER

Middle English megre, from Anglo-French megre, meigre, from Latin macr-, macer lean; akin to Old English mæger lean, Greek makros long

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to MEAGER

Synonyms: exiguous, hand-to-mouth, light, niggardly, poor, scant, scanty, scarce, skimp, skimpy, slender, slim, spare, sparing, sparse, stingy, thin on the ground

Antonyms: abundant, ample, bountiful, copious, generous, liberal, plenteous, plentiful

Related Words: deficient, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, short, wanting; bare, bare-bones; least, littlest, lowest, mere, minimal, slightest; slight, small, thin; barren, infertile, sterile, unfruitful, unproductive

Near Antonyms: adequate, enough, satisfactory, sufficient, tolerable; fat, fecund, fertile, fruitful, prolific, rich; lavish, luxuriant; blooming, bursting, flourishing, proliferative, swarming, teeming, thriving; excess, extra, surplus

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Synonym Discussion of MEAGER

meager, scanty, scant, skimpy, spare, sparse mean falling short of what is normal, necessary, or desirable. meager implies the absence of elements, qualities, or numbers necessary to a thing's richness, substance, or potency <a meager portion of meat>. scanty stresses insufficiency in amount, quantity, or extent <supplies too scanty to last the winter>. scant suggests a falling short of what is desired or desirable rather than of what is essential <in January the daylight hours are scant>. skimpy usually suggests niggardliness or penury as the cause of the deficiency <tacky housing developments on skimpy lots>. spare may suggest a slight falling short of adequacy or merely an absence of superfluity <a spare, concise style of writing>. sparse implies a thin scattering of units <a sparse population>.

Rhymes with MEAGER

eager, leaguer