meager

/ˈmigər/

/ˈmigə/

Meager means small and often applies to portions. Your mother may only allow you a meager serving of chocolate cake, and you may need to eat a meager serving of veggies in order to deserve that dessert.

Meager doesn't mean adequate — it means not enough. People with a limited supply of food may try to subsist on meager portions. People who make a meager amount of money probably have a hard time making rent. Meager and emaciated both derive from the Old French maigre. If you can remember that you will look emaciated if your diet is meager, you’ll use the word correctly.

Definitions of meager

1. adjective

   deficient in amount or quality or extent
   “meager resources”

   “meager fare”

   synonyms: meagerly, meagre, scrimpy, stingy

   scarce

   deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand

   bare, scanty, spare

   lacking in amplitude or quantity

   exiguous

   extremely scanty

   hand-to-mouth

   providing only bare essentials

   hardscrabble

   barely satisfying a lower standard

   measly, miserable, paltry

   contemptibly small in amount

   minimal, minimum

   the least possible

   deficient, insufficient

   of a quantity not able to fulfill a need or requirement

   antonyms:

   ample

   more than enough in size or scope or capacity

   abundant, aplenty

   present in great quantity

   full, good

   having the normally expected amount

   generous

   more than adequate

   full, wide, wide-cut

   having ample fabric

   sufficient

   of a quantity that can fulfill a need or requirement but without being abundant