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Scant vs Niggardly - What's the difference?

scant | niggardly | Related terms |

Scant is a related term of niggardly.


As adjectives the difference between scant and niggardly

is that scant is very little, very few while niggardly is withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy, miserly.

As adverbs the difference between scant and niggardly

is that scant is with difficulty; scarcely; hardly while niggardly is in a parsimonious way; sparingly, stingily.

As a verb scant

is to limit in amount or share; to stint.

As a noun scant

is (masonry) a block of stone sawn on two sides down to the bed level.

scant

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Very little, very few.
    • "After his previous escapades, Mary had scant reason to believe John."
  • Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; scanty; meager; not enough.
    • a scant''' allowance of provisions or water; a '''scant pattern of cloth for a garment
  • * Ridley
    • His sermon was scant , in all, a quarter of an hour.
  • Sparing; parsimonious; chary.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence.

    Synonyms

    * few, little, slight * (l)

    Antonyms

    * ample, plenty

    Derived terms

    * scanty

    Related terms

    * scantily

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To limit in amount or share; to stint.
    • to scant''' someone in provisions; to '''scant ourselves in the use of necessaries
  • * Shakespeare
    • Scant not my cups.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • where man hath a great living laid together and where he is scanted
  • * Dryden
    • I am scanted in the pleasure of dwelling on your actions.
  • To fail, or become less; to scantle.
    • The wind scants .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (masonry) A block of stone sawn on two sides down to the bed level.
  • (masonry) A sheet of stone.
  • (wood) A slightly thinner measurement of a standard wood size.

    • Quotations

    * (English Citations of "scant")

    Adverb

    (-)
  • With difficulty; scarcely; hardly.
  • * Fuller
    • So weak that he was scant able to go down the stairs.
    (Francis Bacon)

    Anagrams

    * *

    niggardly

    English

    (Controversies about the word "niggardly")

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Withholding for the sake of meanness; stingy, miserly.
  • * Bishop Hall
    • Where the owner of the house will be bountiful, it is not for the steward to be niggardly .
  • * 1919 ,
    • They were not niggardly , these tramps, and he who had money did not hesitate to share it among the rest.
  • * 1958 , , The Affluent Society (1998 edition), ISBN 9780395925003, p. 186:
    • This manifests itself in an implacable tendency to provide an opulent supply of some things and a niggardly yield of others.

    Synonyms

    * miserly, stingy. * See also

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • In a parsimonious way; sparingly, stingily.
  • *, New York 2001, p.105:
    • because many families are compelled to live niggardly , exhaust and undone by great dowers, none shall be given at all, or very little […].

    Usage notes

    * This term may cause offence as it is easily misinterpreted to be an adverbial form of the racial epithet (nigger). Racist Language, Real and Imagined , Steven Pinker. February 2, 1999. The New York Times (editorial). The two words are etymologically unrelated.

    References

    See also

    * (Controversies about the word "niggardly")