Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - meager

 or meagre  adjective  Etymology: Middle English megre, from Anglo-French megre, meigre, from Latin macr-, macer lean; akin to Old English m?ger lean, Greek makros long  Date: 14th century  1. having little flesh ; thin  2.  a. lacking desirable qualities (as richness or strength) leading a ~ life  b. deficient in quality or quantity a ~ diet  • ~ly adverb  • ~ness noun Synonyms:  ~, scanty, scant, skimpy, spare, sparse mean falling short of what is normal, necessary, or desirable. ~ implies the absence of elements, qualities, or numbers necessary to a thing's richness, substance, or potency a ~ portion of meat. scanty stresses insufficiency in amount, quantity, or extent supplies too scanty to last the winter. scant suggests a falling short of what is desired or desirable rather than of what is essential in January the daylight hours are scant. skimpy usually suggests niggardliness or penury as the cause of the deficiency tacky housing developments on skimpy lots. spare may suggest a slight falling short of adequacy or merely an absence of superfluity a spare, concise style of writing. sparse implies a thin scattering of units a sparse population.