as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
offered her guest only one measly cookie
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Recent Examples of measly
In fact, their 263 puts them on trajectory to shatter the franchise record for the most measly production in a season, 586, held by, oof, the inaugural 1969 expansion team.
—
Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 27 June 2025
Musk, Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg are all fans of Iain Banks’s Culture series, which imagines a post-scarcity socialist utopia where all of our measly 21st-century problems have been solved by technological advancement.
—Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 21 June 2025
The tacky-meter reaches new heights when Brit presents the Housewives (of course no one else got gift bags) some of her shapewear in sad cardboard boxes without a lick of tissue paper or even a measly bow.
—Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 26 May 2025
For the fifth Game 7 in a row, the Leafs scored one measly goal.
—Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for measly
Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 27 June 2025
Musk, Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg are all fans of Iain Banks’s Culture series, which imagines a post-scarcity socialist utopia where all of our measly 21st-century problems have been solved by technological advancement.
—Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 21 June 2025
The tacky-meter reaches new heights when Brit presents the Housewives (of course no one else got gift bags) some of her shapewear in sad cardboard boxes without a lick of tissue paper or even a measly bow.
—Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 26 May 2025
For the fifth Game 7 in a row, the Leafs scored one measly goal.
—Joshua Kloke, New York Times, 19 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for measly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for measly
Adjective
-
The focus was to provide more attacking numbers in advanced areas to maintain territorial dominance, with a midfield pair — or ‘double pivot’ — providing the defensive foundation behind a nominal front four.—
Mark Carey,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Alongside contemporaries including Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and Maxwell, the neo-soul class focused on recapturing the live, thick instrumentation, rich songwriting and weighted, passionate delivery of its nominal genre predecessor.—
Trevor Anderson,
Billboard,
22 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
As her new album opens, Brandi Carlile is having a slight argument with herself.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
28 Oct. 2025
-
The whisky is lovely despite its age (remember, sometimes older whiskies are not actually that good), with notes of caramel, licorice, mango, apple, berry, cinnamon, and a slight wisp of smoke on the palate.—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
From breezing through paperwork to avoiding unnecessary airport delays, this tiny travel hero proves that sometimes the simplest tools are the most important.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
2 Nov. 2025
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But the movie only gives tiny little tastes of 1982 rock culture, and why Nebraska was so comically unsuitable for airplay.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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Meanwhile, independent artists have spent years expressing their frustrations with the paltry payouts of most DSPs.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
10 Oct. 2025
-
But those refunds were relatively paltry.—
Erin Doherty,
CNBC,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Measly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/measly. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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