scant

1 of 3

adjective

1
dialect
a
: excessively frugal
b
: not prodigal : chary
2
a
: barely or scarcely sufficient
especially : not quite coming up to a stated measure
a scant teaspoon
b
: lacking in amplitude or quantity
scant growth
3
: having a small or insufficient supply
he's fat, and scant of breathWilliam Shakespeare
scantly adverb
scantness noun

scant

2 of 3

adverb

dialect

scant

3 of 3

verb

scanted; scanting; scants

transitive verb

1
: to provide an incomplete supply of
2
: to make small, narrow, or meager
3
: to give scant attention to : slight
4
: to provide with a meager or inadequate portion or supply : stint
Choose the Right Synonym for scant

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

Examples of scant in a Sentence

Adjective Food was in scant supply. She paid scant attention to the facts. Police found scant evidence of fraud. Verb don't scant the peanut butter on those sandwiches!
Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
At the best of times in China these road users are unpredictable, usually paying scant regard for traffic lights, road regulations, or their own safety. Mark Andrews, WIRED, 13 Mar. 2024 Representatives for Cena and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have not yet responded to THR’s requests to elaborate on this scant ensemble. Beatrice Verhoeven, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Mar. 2024 During the first decade of the investigation, DNA matches remained scant for the six bodies. Corey Kilgannon, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024 Humanitarian aid has been scant in the northern part of Gaza, where aid groups are warning of imminent famine. Kelsey ables, Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2024 On some of Russia’s state media channels, however, reports of Navalny’s death have been scant. Sophie Tanno, CNN, 18 Feb. 2024 Back then, with only 16 teams and scant player freedom, the Dodgers were loaded with talent, boasting future Hall of Famers Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider. Barry Jacobs – Columnist, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024 Though aspects of its style and attitude have scaled uncommonly well, the paper’s success depended at least as much on its relationship to a fruitful context, a thing of scant value in a culture that mostly refers to itself. Michelle Orange, The New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2024 The proposal is similar to others that the investor groups submitted to ExxonMobil in recent years and which ExxonMobil says received scant support from other shareholders. Michael Copley, NPR, 29 Feb. 2024
Adverb
How come scant few of America’s leading art museums own or display his work? Chadd Scott, Forbes, 30 May 2021
Verb
Trump captured attention his first time around, in part, by talking about issues that other candidates scanted: the threat of China, chaos at the southern border. Nr Editors, National Review, 22 Dec. 2023 For each of the debaters, the session will provide an opportunity for attention that has scanted them during months dominated by news about Trump and his parade of indictments. Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 23 Aug. 2023 For one, most victims do not trust the justice system, which leads to scant reporting. Lenore Anderson, ELLE, 7 Nov. 2022 There were few roads or trails or even paths to follow and scant potable water, but plenty of pit vipers and tarantulas. Ellen Ruppel Shell, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2022 In most cases, the Electoral College vote is a mere formality that carries no drama and garners scant public attention. Gilbert Garcia, ExpressNews.com, 18 Dec. 2020 Bennett’s story began in southern Georgia’s rural Brantley County, home to scant football tradition when the Bennetts arrived from the Atlanta suburbs in 2004. Laine Higgins and Rachel Bachman, WSJ, 16 Oct. 2020 Yet geriatrics is badly scanted in standard medical training. Joseph Epstein, WSJ, 17 Jan. 2020 Issues that involve race — such as voting-rights cases and challenges to affirmative action in higher education — receive extensive treatment, while other, no less interesting and important questions are scanted or ignored. Carson Holloway, National Review, 20 June 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr short

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adverb

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

circa 1580, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of scant was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near scant

Cite this Entry

“Scant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scant. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

scant

1 of 2 adjective
1
a
: barely or scarcely enough
especially : not quite coming up to a certain measure
a scant cup of milk
b
: lacking in size or quantity : meager, scanty
scant growth
2
: having a small or short supply
scant of breath
scantly adverb
scantness noun

scant

2 of 2 verb

More from Merriam-Webster on scant

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