measly — meas‧ly [ˈmiːzli] adjective informal disapproving very small in amount: • Revenue rose a measly 1.8% in the last quarter. • Some investments give a very measly yield. * * * measly UK US / mi:zli/ adjective INFORMAL … Financial and business terms
measly — mea sly (m[=e] zly), a. 1. Infected with measles. [1913 Webster] 2. (Zo[ o]l.) Containing larval tapeworms; said of pork and beef. [1913 Webster] 3. Contemptibly small in quantity; meager; absurdly insufficient or bad; as, a measly few dollars… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
measly — index paltry Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
measly — affected with measles, 1680s, from measle (see MEASLES (Cf. measles)) + Y (Cf. y) (2); sense of meager and contemptible first recorded 1864 in British slang … Etymology dictionary
measly — paltry, trifling, trivial, puny, *petty, picayunish, picayune Analogous words: *contemptible, despicable, sorry, scurvy, cheap, beggarly, shabby: *stingy, parsimonious, penurious, miserly … New Dictionary of Synonyms
measly — [adj] skimpy beggarly, contemptible, insignificant, meager, mean, miserable, miserly, niggling*, paltry, pathetic, petty, picayune, piddling*, pitiful, poor, puny, scanty, stingy, trifling, trivial, ungenerous, unimportant, valueless, worthless;… … New thesaurus
measly — ► ADJECTIVE (measlier, measliest) informal ▪ ridiculously small or few … English terms dictionary
measly — [mēz′lē] adj. measlier, measliest 1. infected with MEASLES (sense 1 or 2) 2. Informal contemptibly slight, worthless, or skimpy … English World dictionary
measly — [[t]mi͟ːzli[/t]] ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n, oft a ADJ amount (disapproval) If you describe an amount, quantity, or size as measly, you are critical of it because it is very small or inadequate. [INFORMAL] The average British bathroom measures a… … English dictionary
measly — UK [ˈmiːzlɪ] / US [ˈmɪzlɪ] adjective Word forms measly : adjective measly comparative measlier superlative measliest informal too small I can t afford to buy a car on my measly salary … English dictionary
