Meaning & use
meagreness
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Meanings
noununcountable
The state of being small in amount or quantity, or of not being enough.
Grammar: No plural and no 'a': say 'the meagreness of the results', not 'a meagreness'.
Patterns
- the meagreness of something
The meagreness of the meal left everyone hungry.
Critics complained about the meagreness of the government's support.
The meagreness of the evidence made the case hard to prove.
noununcountableliterary
The quality of being thin or lacking in flesh.
Grammar: Used mainly in written descriptions of people or animals; 'thinness' is the more everyday choice.
Patterns
- the meagreness of someone's frame
The meagreness of his frame surprised the nurses.
She noticed the meagreness of the stray dog and fed it.
Common combinations
- the meagreness of the evidence
- The meagreness of the evidence forced the judge to dismiss the charge.
- the meagreness of the results
- Everyone was disappointed by the meagreness of the results.
- the meagreness of the portion
- He joked about the meagreness of the portion at the expensive restaurant.
- complain about the meagreness of something
- Readers complained about the meagreness of the index.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scarcity
- Suggests something is hard to find or in short supply; meagreness focuses on how small or poor the amount is.
- paucity
- A formal, often academic word for a small number; meagreness can describe amounts, quality, or even thinness.
- thinness
- The everyday word for lacking fat or thickness; it does not carry the idea of 'not enough' that meagreness often has.
Opposites
Word family
- meagre adjective
- Small in amount or poor in quality; the American spelling is 'meager'.
- meagerly adverb
- In a small or insufficient way, as in 'meagerly paid'.
- meagerness noun
- The American spelling of the same noun.
Commonly confused: meagreness or meanness?
meagreness vs meanness
Meanness means unkindness or unwillingness to spend money, while meagreness means smallness of amount; they sound similar but are different words.
Practice
Which sentence uses "meagreness" correctly?
Choose one answer.
Meagreness means a small or insufficient amount, so 'the meagreness of the salary' fits. Option A describes unkindness, which is 'meanness'; C confuses it with a manner of speaking; and D describes generosity, the opposite idea.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “meagreness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.