exiguous

IPA/eɡˈzɪɡjuəs/
IPA/eɡˈzɪɡjuəs/

exiguous — adjective

  • exiguouspositive
  • more exiguouscomparative
  • most exiguoussuperlative

1. so small in quantity or size that there is barely enough to serve a purpose — fo

1.adjectiveC2
Definition

so small in quantity or size that there is barely enough to serve a purpose — for example, an exiguous meal that leaves you still hungry, or an exiguous salary that just covers the rent and nothing more.

Example

Thiago's exiguous income as a part-time cleaner could not feed his three children.

collocation: exiguous income; register: formal

Fatima wrote her school report with an exiguous supply of paper and one pencil.

collocation: exiguous supply of [noun]

Common collocations
  • exiguous income
  • exiguous supply of something
  • exiguous budget
  • exiguous resources
  • exiguous amount
Synonyms
  • meager

    more common in everyday speech; suggests a disappointing insufficiency

  • scant

    emphasizes barely meeting a minimum requirement

  • paltry

    adds a tone of contempt for how little there is

  • negligible

    focuses on something being so small it can be ignored

Antonyms

Usage Note

This is a very formal, literary word. In everyday English, speakers tend to use 'tiny', 'meager', or 'scant' instead.

Word family

  • exiguity
    nounC2
  • exiguously
    adverbC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Exiguous is the rarest and most formal of this group, appearing almost only in writing. Meager is the everyday choice and often carries a tone of disappointing insufficiency — a meager paycheck barely covers the bills. Scant emphasizes that something only just meets a minimum (scant evidence, scant regard for safety). Paltry adds a note of contempt or scorn toward how little there is, such as a paltry raise after a year of hard work. Negligible goes a step further, suggesting the amount is so small it does not matter or can be disregarded (a negligible difference in price). For example: the aid agency provided exiguous supplies (formal, written); in conversation you would say the supplies were meager.

meager ↗scantpaltry ↗negligible ↗

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Comes from Latin 'exiguus' meaning 'scanty, meager,' which itself comes from 'exigere' — originally meaning 'to drive out,' but later used in the sense of 'to weigh, measure, determine by weighing.' The idea is that something has been measured and found to be very small.

First known use

1630

1630, in the meaning defined above