meagerness
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: 1. The quality or state of being meager; an inadequate or deficient amount, quantity, or extent. It describes a lack of fullness, richness, or abundance, often to the point of being insufficient or barely adequate.
Usage
The noun "meagerness" is used to describe an abstract quality of scarcity, insufficiency, or thinness. It is typically applied to non-physical concepts like resources, evidence, or results, but can also describe physical thinness. It often carries a negative connotation of disappointing inadequacy. - It is commonly preceded by determiners like "the," "its," "their," or adjectives like "utter," "relative." - It often appears in phrases like "the meagerness of [something]."
Examples
- The meagerness of the harvest led to widespread hunger.
- Despite years of work, the meagerness of the scientific evidence was frustrating.
- He was disappointed by the meagerness of his pension.
- The report criticized the meagerness of the company's investment in research.
Advanced Usage
- "an exiguity of cloth that would only allow of miniature capes": This literary example (from George Eliot) uses "exiguity" as a synonym for "meagerness" to humorously describe a very small amount of fabric, highlighting its insufficiency for a normal-sized garment.
Variants and Related Words
- Meager (adjective): Deficient in quantity, fullness, or richness; thin.
- Meagrely (adverb): In a meager manner; scantily.
- Exiguity (noun): A formal synonym for meagerness, meaning scanty or meager amount.
Synonyms
- Inadequacy: The state of being insufficient.
- Scantiness: Barely sufficient or adequate amount.
- Paucity: The presence of something in only small or insufficient quantities.
- Sparseness: The quality of being thinly dispersed or scattered; scantiness.
- Deficiency: A lack or shortage.
Antonyms
- Abundance: A very large quantity of something.
- Plenitude: An abundance.
- Profusion: An abundance or large quantity of something.
- Richness: The state of existing in plentiful quantities; abundance.
Noun
- the quality of being meager
- an exiguity of cloth that would only allow of miniature capes-George Eliot