meager

especially British, mea·gre

[mee-ger]

adjective

1. deficient in quantity or quality; lacking fullness or richness; scanty; inadequate.

   a meager salary; meager fare; a meager harvest.

2. having little flesh; lean; thin.

   a body meager with hunger.

   Synonyms: skinny, spare, gaunt

3. maigre.

Other Word Forms

• meagerly adverb
• meagerness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of meager¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English megre, from Old French maigre, from Latin macer “lean”

Synonym Study

See scanty.

Example Sentences

On the field his contributions were more meager, with Campos allowing 51 goals in 43 games over two seasons.

From Los Angeles Times

The accusations are so meager that whether the firing will stand is an open question.

From Los Angeles Times

Most of the serious energy has been targeted toward tearing down homeless encampments, which are populated by the most powerless people in society, often destroying what meager possessions they have.

From Salon

On Tuesday morning, Taylor Swift announced her new LP, “The Life of a Showgirl,” and here’s everything — a meager bounty, for now — that we know about it.

From Los Angeles Times

The meager snowpack in the Rocky Mountains this winter has again shrunk the amount of runoff, increasing the risks the river’s depleted reservoirs could decline to critically low levels.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• insufficient 
• mere 
• minimum 
• miserable 
• paltry 
• puny 
• scant 
• scanty 
• skimpy 
• sparse 
• tenuous