mea ‧ gre BrE AmE British English , meager American English /ˈmiːɡə $ -ər/ adjective
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: maigre , from Latin macer 'thin' ]
a meagre amount of food, money etc is too small and is much less than you need ⇨ substantial :
a meagre diet of bread and beans
meagre income/earnings/wages etc
He supplements his meager income by working on Saturdays.
a school with meagre resources
—meagrely adverb
—meagreness noun [uncountable]