meager Hear it!

meager Definition

mea·ger (mē′gər)

adjective

  1. thin; lean; emaciated
  2. of poor quality or small amount; not full or rich; inadequate

Etymology: ME megre < OFr megre (Fr maigre) < L macer, lean, thin < IE *makro- < base *māk-, long and thin > Gr makros, long, OE mæger, meager

meager Related Forms

mea′·gerly adverb mea′·ger·ness noun

meager Synonyms

meager

modif.

  1. Thin

    lank, lanky, gaunt, starved, emaciated, lean, bony, slender, slim, spare, little, sparing, bare, scant, stinted, lacking, wanting, niggard, scraggy, scrawny, withered, wandlike, willowlike, willowy, lithe, narrow, tenuous, slightly-made, skinny, weedy*, peaked; see also thin 2, 4.

    Antonyms fat*, plump*, stout. *

  2. Scanty

    scanty, short, deficient, insufficient; see inadequate 1, scanty, wanting. See syn. study at scanty.

meager Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • ration: For the lean ones, status quo implies impotence, exile, meager rations.
  • existence: Veterans, and the widows of veterans, etch a meager existence on the pittance that the state throws at their feet.
  • budget: For the most meager budget, a hand painted sign can be affixed to the trunk of the car spelling out the joyous news.
  • income: The farmers are reluctant to go to hospital mainly because their meager income and the medical cost are disproportionate.
  • hand: One meager hand was thrust out, palm up, fingers curled in a tortured appeal for reason.
  • amount: In fact the only downside to the whole disk is the meager amount of extras on offer.

Modifying Another Word

  • very: That is, the historical evidence to answer the kinds of questions that we pose to Scripture is often very meager.
  • rather: Even their contact was rather meager at the time of our study, however.
  • pretty: I mean offering only three large chips is pretty meager in my opinion.
  • extremely: All of them are, for a long period, extremely meager and scanty.