Meager
easyNegative toneMEE-ger
adjective
Definition
Lacking in quantity or quality; insufficient
Memory hook
MEAGER: A MEAGER meal leaves you hungry -- thin, insufficient, inadequate.
Word roots
macer— thin, lean(Latin)
Learning roots unlocks whole word families. Study common GRE root words.
Examples
“The workers survived on meager wages.”
“The harvest was meager due to the drought.”
Test yourself
Fill in the blank with the right word:
“The workers survived on ______ wages.”
Show answer
meager
Categories
GRE Tip
Meager is a easy-difficulty GRE word. On the GRE, you might see it paired with synonyms like "sparse" or "scant" in Sentence Equivalence questions. Look for contrast clues (however, despite, although) that signal the opposite meaning. Words like "abundant".
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