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Measly vs Meager - What's the difference?

measly | meager |

As adjectives the difference between measly and meager

is that measly is small in amount, contemptibly so or measly can be infected with measles while meager is having little flesh; lean; thin.

As a verb meager is

to make lean.

measly

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl)

Adjective

(er)
  • Small in amount, contemptibly so.

    • Etymology 2

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Infected with measles
  • Infected with larval tapeworms
  • Infected with trichinae

    • meager

    English

    (wikipedia meager)

    Alternative forms

    * meagre (Commonwealth English)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Having little flesh; lean; thin.
  • Poor, deficient or inferior in amount, quality or extent; paltry; scanty; inadequate; unsatisfying.
    • A meager piece of cake in one bite.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=1607 , author=Thomas Walkington , title=The Optick Glasse of Humors, or, The touchstone of a golden temperature, or ... , page=54 citation , passage=...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, ...}}
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=1637 , author=William Shakespeare , title=The most excellent Historie of the Merchant of Venice: With the extreame crueltie of Shylocke ... , page=E5 citation , passage=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...}}

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * meagerly * meagerness

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make lean.

    • Anagrams

    * * ----