Synonyms

meager

American

[mee-ger] / ˈmi gər /

especially British, meagre

adjective

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

a meager salary; meager fare; a meager harvest.
having little flesh; lean; thin.

a body meager with hunger.

Synonyms:

skinny, spare, gaunt
maigre.

Related Words

See scanty.

Other Word Forms

meagerly adverb
meagerness noun

Etymology

Origin of meager

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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, the IMF warned that a number of countries were already struggling with meager foreign reserves and "limited market access," making them vulnerable to "dangerous" debt shocks.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

They often live in spartan conditions and earn meager wages.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

Some people wanted to see Simpson punished, while others viewed his acquittal as vindication, however meager, for decades’ worth of societal abuse.

From Salon • Feb. 12, 2026

Oscar, meanwhile, his idealism reawakened, sees an opportunity for an underprivileged kid with raw talent to escape her meager existence.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026

But when a law school classmate, Charles Bliss, moved to Atlanta for a job with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, we realized that if we pooled our meager salaries, we could afford a low-rent apartment.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023