- measly
- adjective (measlier; -est) Date: 1687 1. infected with measles 2. a. containing larval tapeworms b. infested with trichinae 3. contemptibly small
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
measly
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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 — The word measly can refer to measles, and, thence, to spotty and, thence, to something that is of little value. In medicine, the measly tapeworm is the pork tapeworm (T. solium) which can be contracted through eating measly pork (pork infected… … Medical 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
