Meager

//ˈmiɡɚ// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make lean. Canada, US, common, transitive
Adjective
  1. 1
    Having little flesh; lean; thin. Canada, US, common
  2. 2
    Poor, deficient or inferior in amount, quality or extent Canada, US, common

    "A meager piece of cake in one bite."

  3. 3
    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
  4. 4
    Dry and harsh to the touch (e.g., as chalk). Canada, US, common
Adjective
  1. 1
    deficient in amount or quality or extent wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
exiguousmiserablescantythreadbareabstemiousangular

Example

More examples

"It was difficult to live on his meager earnings."

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, Icelandic magr whence the Icelandic magur, Norwegian Bokmål mager and Danish mager. Doublet of maigre.

Related phrases

topological space

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.