Definition

1. Noun:
   • The quality or state of being meager: This refers to a condition of being deficient in quantity, fullness, richness, or substance. It describes something that is lacking in what is necessary for adequacy, often implying thinness, scantiness, or poverty.

Usage

• Meagreness is an abstract noun used to describe the characteristic of something that is insufficient, scanty, or lean. It is often applied to resources, amounts, descriptions, or physical attributes.
• It typically carries a negative connotation, suggesting that what is present is less than what is needed, expected, or desired.

Examples

• The meagreness of the harvest led to food shortages in the village.
• Despite his efforts, the report was criticized for the meagreness of its data.
• She was struck by the meagreness of the evidence presented in court.
• The meagreness of his salary made it difficult to support his family.

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 meagreness, vividly illustrating a severe scantiness of material.
• Meagreness can be used in formal or literary contexts to critique the inadequacy of something, such as an argument, a diet, or an offering.

Variants and Related Words

• Meager (adj): deficient in quantity or quality; lean, scanty.
  • They survived on a meager diet of bread and soup.
• Meagerly (adv): in a meager manner; scantily.
  • The room was meagerly furnished.

Synonyms

• Scantiness: The quality of being barely sufficient or inadequate in amount.
• Inadequacy: The state of being insufficient for a purpose.
• Paucity: The presence of something in only small or insufficient quantities.
• Sparseness: The quality of being thinly dispersed or scattered; scantiness.
• Poverty: The state of being extremely poor; here, it can metaphorically mean a lack of desirable ingredients or qualities.

Antonyms

• Abundance: A very large quantity of something.
• Plenitude: An abundance.
• Ampleness: The quality of being plentiful or spacious.
• Richness: The state of existing in plentiful quantities; possessing abundant and desirable qualities.

Notes

• The primary spelling is meagreness in British English, while meagerness is the common American English spelling. Both are correct.
• As an abstract noun, it is not typically used in plural form. It describes a singular quality or state.

Noun

1. the quality of being meager
   • an exiguity of cloth that would only allow of miniature capes-George Eliot