/mee"zlee/ , adj., measlier, measliest .
1. Informal.
a. contemptibly small, meager, or slight: They paid me a measly fifteen dollars for a day's work.
b. wretchedly bad or unsatisfactory: a measly performance.
2. infected with measles, as an animal or its flesh.
3. pertaining to or resembling measles.
[ 1680-90; MEASL(ES) + -Y 1 ]