meager

meagre or meager (ˈmiːɡə)

—*adj*
1.	deficient in amount, quality, or extent
2.	thin or emaciated
3.	lacking in richness or strength

[C14: from Old French maigre,from Latin macer lean, poor]

meager or meager

—*adj*

[C14: from Old French maigre,from Latin macer lean, poor]

'meagrely or meager

—*adv*

'meagerly or meager

—*adv*

'meagreness or meager

—n

'meagerness or meager

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

meager

c.1300, "lean, thin, emaciated" (of persons or animals), from O.Fr. megre, maigre, from L. macrum (nom. macer) "lean, thin," from PIE *makro- (see macro-). Of material things (land, food, etc.) from 1501.

Example sentences

Then they gather in clusters of six or seven, each group taking shelter behind

a small dune and kindling a meager fire.

And he is doing so with meager funding and only a small band of supporters.

The monthly handout disappears on meager amounts of food.

More important perhaps, the meager budget for a weekly television show

precluded landing a huge starship every week.

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grunge Lenten litotes macro- maigre measly

Matching Quote

"I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms."

-Calvin Coolidge