skimpy

IPA/ˈskɪmpi/
KK[skˈɪmpi]IPA/ˈskɪmpi/

skimpy — adjective

  • skimpypositive
  • skimpiercomparative
  • skimpiestsuperlative

1. smaller in amount, size, or quantity than what is needed, often in a disappointi

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

smaller in amount, size, or quantity than what is needed, often in a disappointing way — for example, a skimpy meal that does not fill you up, or a skimpy budget that cannot cover your costs.

Example

The hostel gave guests a skimpy towel the size of a napkin.

collocation: skimpy + concrete noun (towel, portion, meal)

Kenji felt the three-day training class was too skimpy to prepare him for the job.

Common collocations
  • skimpy portion
  • skimpy meal
  • skimpy salary
  • skimpy donation
  • skimpy budget
  • skimpy information
Synonyms
  • meager

    stronger sense of barely enough to survive on; more serious tone than 'skimpy'

  • scant

    suggests barely reaching a minimum; used with amounts and quantities

  • inadequate

    focuses on not meeting a required standard; more formal than 'skimpy'

Antonyms
  • generous

    large in amount or size; positive opposite

  • ample

    more than enough; formal opposite

Grammar Patterns

skimpy + noun

be + skimpy

Usage Note

Often used with concrete nouns like portion, meal, salary, or budget — things people expect to be generous but find disappointing. The tone is mildly critical.

Common Mistakes

The meal was skimpy' (vague).
The restaurant served a skimpy portion of rice.
'skimpy' works best when it modifies the specific thing that is too small, not as a standalone description of a general situation.

2. describes clothing that uses very little fabric, leaving much of the body uncove

2.adjectiveB1
Definition

describes clothing that uses very little fabric, leaving much of the body uncovered and visible to others — for example, a skimpy bikini or a skimpy dress with thin straps.

Example

Fatima wore a skimpy bikini to the beach party last Saturday.

The store sells skimpy summer dresses with thin straps and very short hems.

collocation: skimpy dress / skimpy outfit

Common collocations
  • skimpy bikini
  • skimpy dress
  • skimpy outfit
  • skimpy costume
  • skimpy clothing
  • skimpy top
Synonyms
  • revealing

    neutral description; less informal than 'skimpy'

  • scanty

    similar meaning but more formal and less common in everyday speech

  • brief

    used for swimwear or shorts; softer and less critical tone

Antonyms
  • modest

    covers the body fully; positive opposite

  • conservative

    traditional in style, not revealing

Grammar Patterns

skimpy + clothing noun

Usage Note

Almost always describes clothing items — swimwear, dresses, tops, costumes. The tone ranges from neutral description to mild disapproval depending on context and the speaker's attitude.

Common Mistakes

She wore a skimpy dress to the interview' (context mismatch).
She wore a skimpy bikini at the beach resort.
'skimpy' clothing is typically associated with casual, holiday, or performance settings, not formal or professional ones.

Word family

  • skimp
    verbB2
  • skimpily
    adverbB2
  • skimpiness
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Skimpy, meager, scant, and inadequate all describe amounts that are too small, but each carries a different shade of meaning. Skimpy (informal) emphasises disappointment at something falling short of what one expected — a skimpy meal or a skimpy towel. Meager suggests a bare minimum that barely meets survival needs, often with a tone of poverty or hardship: 'The refugees survived on meager rations.' Scant focuses on barely reaching a measurable threshold and frequently appears with uncountable nouns: 'There was scant evidence to support the claim.' Inadequate is the most formal of the four and highlights failure to meet a required standard or purpose: 'The training was inadequate for the complexity of the job.' Use skimpy for everyday disappointments, meager for serious insufficiency, and inadequate when a specific standard has not been met.

meager ↗scantinadequate ↗sparse ↗

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • rather skimpy
  • a bit skimpy
  • too skimpy
  • somewhat skimpy

Phrases

  • skimpy by comparison
  • skimpy for the price

Etymology

ScandinavianEnglish

Skimpy appeared in the mid-1800s, built from the verb 'skimp' — meaning to do something in a miserly or insufficient way — plus the adjective suffix '-y.' The verb 'skimp' likely comes from an early Scandinavian word related to 'skim,' evoking the image of taking only the surface layer and leaving very little behind. The '-y' suffix turned this idea of stinginess into an adjective describing anything that feels disappointingly small or revealingly scant.