All words

meager

Meaning

Being of insufficient quantity or amount; scarce.

Examples by difficulty

Basic: Simple, everyday vocabulary — the easiest to read.

When I saw the stray cat, I could tell it was hungry. Its meager body looked so thin that I could see its ribs. It walked slowly and carefully as if it did not have enough strength left. I wished I could help it.

The stray cat shivered, its ribs showing through its meager fur. It hadn't eaten in days, and hunger gnawed at its empty stomach. It curled up in a corner, hoping for a scrap of food.

After months of hunger, Jake's meager frame told the story of his struggle. His ribs pressed against thin skin, and his arms looked like twigs. The refugee camp's sparse rations had worn him down, leaving nothing but bones and determination.

My cat, Sir Whiskers, stared at our meager goldfish with suspicion. He circled the bowl, probably wondering if the thin, almost invisible fish was just a floating piece of spaghetti. Even the cat toy looked like it had more meat on its bones!

Barnaby the chihuahua was so thin, his ribs looked like a tiny washboard. His legs were mere twigs, and his tail was just a fluffy little question mark. He was a truly meager dog, more air than animal, which made him bounce when he ran, looking like a furry ping-pong ball.

Normal: Standard, everyday language.

As the meager dog wandered the streets, its ribs were visible through its thin, patchy fur. The animal looked hungry and in need of a good meal.

In the desolate wasteland, the starving refugees huddled together, their bodies frail and emaciated. Their faces were skeletal, with hollowed cheeks and sunken eyes. Their clothes hung loosely on their meager frames, revealing the protruding bones beneath. The once-plump cheeks had vanished, leaving only a hollow shell behind.

The meager figure shivered in the dark corner of the abandoned house, its thin arms wrapped tightly around its frail body. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the empty halls, sending chills down the creature's emaciated spine. Its hollow eyes darted back and forth, searching for an escape from the impending danger. With each passing moment, the meager being felt its strength dwindling, its hunger gnawing at its meager frame. As the footsteps drew closer, the realization dawned on the creature that its meager existence was hanging by a thread, teetering on the brink of annihilation.

The marred figure stumbled toward us, its limbs twisted and emaciated. Its skin clung tightly to its bony frame, revealing a skeletal body beneath. Its eyes, a meager sliver of light in the sunken sockets of its skull, flickered with desperation. It opened its mouth, but only a raspy whisper escaped, barely audible above the howling wind.

In the land of Eldoria, a meager figure emerged from the mist, her cloak billowing in the wind. Her face was gaunt, her cheeks hollow, and her eyes sunken. Despite her meager appearance, there was a strength in her gaze that belied her frail frame. She was known as the Keeper of Secrets, a mysterious figure who held the key to unlocking the ancient mysteries of the realm. Though her physical form was thin and lacking in flesh, her knowledge and wisdom were vast and unparalleled. The people of Eldoria revered her, knowing that true power lay not in the body, but in the mind.

Advanced: Richer vocabulary that stretches an upper-level reader.

When Ella took off her jacket, her arms looked meager, their shape almost lost under the fabric. She had missed too many meals this week. Worry crept into her friend’s voice as she gently suggested they visit the cafeteria together.

He felt the cold seep into his bones, a constant gnawing hunger. His body, once robust, had become meager, the last vestiges of strength dwindling with each passing day. He clutched his empty stomach, hoping for a morsel to appear.

After weeks of hiking through the desert, Marcus looked gaunt. His meager frame hung loosely from his hiking gear, skin stretched tight across his cheekbones. The constant rationing of food and water had transformed his body into a skeletal version of its former self.

When Harold dressed as a pirate for Halloween, his meager arms struggled to hold the foam sword, and his thin legs rattled like skeleton bones every time he tried to shout, “Arrr!” Even the neighborhood cat eyed him, clearly unconvinced by such a lack of pirate bulk.

The starving artist's cheekbones jutted out like architectural marvels, a testament to his meager frame. He’d been surviving on artistic inspiration and the occasional dust bunny, a diet that left him thinner than a particularly aloof croissant.

Challenging: Rare, high-register vocabulary for serious word lovers.

When Anna rolled up her sleeve for the doctor, her arm appeared meager, each bone and tendon plainly visible beneath taut skin. The nurse’s expression shifted from routine to concern as she noted how thin Anna had become, her delicate frame signaling weeks of inadequate nourishment.

The old dog lay curled in his usual spot, a meager shadow against the threadbare rug. His ribs pressed against his skin, a testament to lean times. He managed a weak thump of his tail, a flicker of affection in his hollow eyes.

After months of malnutrition, Jack's meager frame barely filled out his worn hospital gown. The nurses watched with concern as he shifted, his thin arms trembling from the effort of moving even slightly, his collarbones sharp against pale skin.

After a week of subsisting solely on cabbage soup, Harold’s meager frame slipped easily through the fence during his midnight escapade; even the neighborhood squirrels, accustomed to skittering through narrow gaps, paused to gawk at his astonishingly thin silhouette as he tiptoed toward the garden, desperate for a clandestine carrot.

Bartholomew, a man whose physique was so profoundly meager, one could discern individual vertebrae through his threadbare tunic, would often complain of phantom limb sensations. He’d lament the apparent absence of his own elbow, believing it had absconded to a more robust appendage, perhaps attached to a gluttonous brigadier.

Difficulty

Normal — Everyday words worth reinforcing.

Appears in

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