Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for meager

meager

[ 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



Discover More

Other Words From

  • meager·ly adverb
  • meager·ness noun

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of meager1

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

Discover More

Synonym Study

See scanty.

Discover More

Example Sentences

Especially in a country where the minimum wage is a meager $3.00 an hour.

Rising to retrieve it, I offer her what meager reassurance I can muster.

He called on his parents not to accept any “meager compensation” for his death.

Look through that PDF I just linked to and feast on the meager amounts earmarked for democracy and assistance programs.

Personal consumption expenditures—people buying stuff—grew at a meager one percent rate in the first quarter.

This report, however, was very meager and lacking in any profusion of mechanical detail.

I have no memory of either parent and my information concerning them is meager and second hand.

The surname Thin has the same meaning as Meagre, from which the common name Meager comes.

Old Lewson, the man who sat under the apple tree, gave his meager property to his children.

A human lamprey, sticking himself always at the thin and meager board of the poor, a vile parasite, but holy!

Advertisement

Word of the Day

gallimaufry

[gal-uh-maw-free ]

Meaning and examples

Start each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!

By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


Meadvillemeagre