measly
Other forms: measliest
Measly is a great word for describing an amount or number so small that it's ridiculous. You'll be disappointed (and maybe even annoyed) if you're paid a measly six dollars to babysit a toddler for two hours.
If you've got a measly ten minutes to eat lunch between classes, it's a laughably short amount of time — hardly enough to unwrap your tuna sandwich. And when a detective has a measly number of clues to help her solve a crime, it can seem nearly impossible. This informal word comes from British slang, and it originally meant "affected by measles."
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contemptibly small in amount
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Vocabulary lists containing measly
When an outing in a kayak ends in tragedy, 15-year-old Brady is determined to find out what really happened.
For Merci Suárez, sixth grade is a year of change. A scholarship student at the posh Seaward Pines Academy, Merci must juggle extra community service and family responsibilities, all while coping with a nasty classmate and her beloved grandfather's declining health.
In this memoir, the author documents how her childhood was torn apart by her parents' decision to emigrate to America to earn enough money for a house in Mexico.