exiguous

[ ig-zig-yoo-uhs, ik-sig- ]
See synonyms for exiguous on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. scanty; meager; small; slender: exiguous income.

Origin of exiguous

1
First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin exiguus “scanty in measure or number, small,” equivalent to exig(ere) “to drive out, measure, exact” + -uus adjective suffix; see origin at exigent,-ous

Other words from exiguous

  • ex·i·gu·i·ty [ek-si-gyoo-i-tee], /ˌɛk sɪˈgyu ɪ ti/, ex·ig·u·ous·ness, noun
  • ex·ig·u·ous·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use exiguous in a sentence

  • Graziano's glasses were only glasses of quite modern exiguousness; the true brotherhood should drink out of a skull.

    Vie de Bohme | Orlo Williams

British Dictionary definitions for exiguous

exiguous

/ (ɪɡˈzɪɡjʊəs, ɪkˈsɪɡ-) /


adjective
  1. scanty or slender; meagre: an exiguous income

Origin of exiguous

1
C17: from Latin exiguus, from exigere to weigh out; see exigent

Derived forms of exiguous

  • exiguity (ˌɛksɪˈɡjuːɪtɪ) or exiguousness, noun
  • exiguously, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012