scanty
pronunciation
How to pronounce scanty in British English:
UK [ˈskænti]
How to pronounce scanty in American English:
US [ˈskænti]
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- Noun:
- short underpants for women or children (usually used in the plural)
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- Adjective:
- lacking in amplitude or quantity
Word Origin
- scanty (adj.)
- 1650s, "meager, barely sufficient for use;" 1701, "too small, limited in scope," from scant + -y (2). Related: Scantiness (1560s). Scanties (n.) "underwear" (especially for women) attested from 1928.
Synonym
Example
- 1. The rainfall was rather scanty this month .
- 2. The farmer 's financial difficulties were caused by a scanty harvest .
- 3. The quality or condition of being scanty or meager .
- 4. The scanty supply of food was distressing : with the keen appetites of growing children , we had scarcely sufficient food to keep alive a delicate invalid .
- 5. The stiff bristles at the tips of the pedicels are usually obvious , but may sometimes be scanty or even absent .