meager en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈmiːɡə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (US) audio
- /ˈmiɡɚ/ (General-American)
Etymology
From Middle English megre, from Anglo-Norman megre, Old French maigre, from Latin macer, from Proto-Indo-European *mh₂ḱrós. Akin, through the Indo-European root, to Old English mæġer (“meager, lean”), West Frisian meager (“meager”), Dutch mager (“meager”), German mager, Old Norse magr whence the Icelandic magur, Norwegian Bokmål mager and Danish mager. Doublet of maigre.
Meanings
- (Canada, US, common) Having little flesh; lean; thin.
-
(Canada, US, common) Poor, deficient or inferior in amount, quality or extent
A meager piece of cake in one bite.
Making the run from Taipei to Panchiao every day to sell the gold-colored paper, he scraped together a meager livelihood.
2002, Huang Chin-shing, Business as a Vocation: The Autobiography of Wu Ho-Su, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 26:Nor none of thee thou pale and common drudge tween man and man: but thou, thou meager lead which rather threatnest then dost promise ought...
1637, William Shakespeare, The most excellent Historie of the Merchant of Venice: With the extreame crueltie of Shylocke..., page E5:The street outside my window furnishes meager entertainment.
...that begets many ugly and deformed phantasies in the braine, which being also hot and drie in the second extenuates and makes meager the body extraordinarily, ...
1607, Thomas Walkington, The Optick Glasse of Humors, or, The touchstone of a golden temperature, or ..., page 54:
- (Canada, US, common) Of a set: such that, considered as a subset of a (usually larger) topological space, it is in a precise sense small or negligible.
- (Canada, US, common) Dry and harsh to the touch (e.g., as chalk).
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| meagre | Commonwealth, alternative | lexicographic | |
| meagerest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| meagerer | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
meagerness · comeager · nonmeager · meagerly
Descendants
Synonyms
paltry · exiguous · measly · scanty · miserly · Lenten · inadequate
Translations (61)
la macer (poor, deficient or inferior) · nl mager (lean) · kk жұтаң (poor, deficient or inferior) · no mager (lean) · es parco (poor, deficient or inferior) · it magro (lean) · de mager (lean) · cs mizerný (poor, deficient or inferior) · cs hubený (lean) · es deficiente (poor, deficient or inferior) · eo magra (lean) · cs ubohý (poor, deficient or inferior) · uk мізе́рний (poor, deficient or inferior) · nl schamel (poor, deficient or inferior) · la macer (lean) · es exiguo (poor, deficient or inferior) · ru худо́й (lean) · fr maigre (lean) · xal ярһ (lean) · el γλίσχρος (poor, deficient or inferior) · el λιγοστός (poor, deficient or inferior) · de mager (poor, deficient or inferior) · ar ضَئِيل (lean) · el πενιχρός (poor, deficient or inferior) · es parvo (poor, deficient or inferior) · pt pobre (poor, deficient or inferior) · el ισχνός (poor, deficient or inferior) · fi niukka (poor, deficient or inferior) · sq lig (lean) · mi kōhoka (lean) · sq mpakur (lean) · no mager (poor, deficient or inferior) · ru то́щий (lean) · cs nedostačující (poor, deficient or inferior) · fr maigre (poor, deficient or inferior) · kk жарымаған (poor, deficient or inferior) · ka გალეული (poor, deficient or inferior) · ka გამხდარი (lean) · pt magro (lean) · ota ضعیف (lean) · nl mager (poor, deficient or inferior) · fr pauvre (poor, deficient or inferior) · es magro (lean) · ru ску́дный (poor, deficient or inferior) · ota نازك (lean) · el ισχνός (lean) · es mísero (poor, deficient or inferior) · es pobre (poor, deficient or inferior) · es escaso (poor, deficient or inferior) · kk тақ-тұқ (poor, deficient or inferior) · sq lig (poor, deficient or inferior) · ru бе́дный (poor, deficient or inferior) · uk убо́гий (poor, deficient or inferior) · ru ми́зерный (poor, deficient or inferior) · ro macru (lean) · fi laiha (lean) · pdt pukrich (poor, deficient or inferior) · ka ღარიბი (poor, deficient or inferior) · ka უქონელი (poor, deficient or inferior) · sv mager (lean) · ka მჭლე (lean)