SCANTY • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Scanty

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/skˈænti/ Listen

adjective

Scanty adj. (compar. scantier; superl. scantiest)

Lacking amplitude or extent; narrow; small; not abundant. "His dominions were very narrow and scanty." "Now scantier limits the proud arch confine."

Somewhat less than is needed; insufficient; scant; as, a scanty supply of words; a scanty supply of bread.

Sparing; niggardly; parsimonious. "In illustrating a point of difficulty, be not too scanty of words."

Synonyms: Scant; narrow; small; poor; deficient; meager; scarce; chary; sparing; parsimonious; penurious; niggardly; grudging.

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Etymology of 'Scanty'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Scanty" Quotes from Famous Books

... warmed by steam, and the fire could not be lighted because of a smoky chimney. There were no lamps, and the sparse candles were obviously grudged. The stewards were dirty and desponding, the serving inhospitable, the cooking dirty and greasy, the food scanty, the table-linen frowsy. There were four French and two Japanese male passengers, who sat at meals in top-coats, comforters, and hats. I had a large cabin, the salon des dames, and the undivided attention of a very competent, ...

— The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither • Isabella L. Bird (Mrs. Bishop)

... nobility were compromised. One of the first measures taken by the king was, consequently, to throw open every post of distinction in the army to the citizens. The old inconvenient uniform and firearms were at the same time improved, the queue was cut off, the cane abandoned. The royal army was indeed scanty in number, but it contained within itself germs of honor and patriotism that gave ...

— Germany from the Earliest Period Vol. 4 • Wolfgang Menzel, Trans. Mrs. George Horrocks

... his chair again, and, with a crafty old eye cocked on the windows next door, fingered a scanty tuft of white hair on his chin and smiled weakly. Captain Trimblett controlled himself by an effort, and, selecting a piece of paper from a bundle of letters in his pocket, made signs for a pencil. Captain Sellers shook his head; then he glanced round ...

— Salthaven • W. W. Jacobs

... potatoes—the most uncertain and the least nutritious of the crops used for human food. Many hundred thousands of them had no employment in their own country and no means of livelihood except the produce of the scanty patches around their own turf cabins. Tens of thousands flocked to England annually seeking harvest work, and a small number emigrated to Canada or the United States, the passage money for an emigrant being then almost prohibitive. Those who could not pay rent were liable to eviction, and eviction ...

— The Political History of England - Vol XI - From Addington's Administration to the close of William - IV.'s Reign (1801-1837) • George Brodrick

... based on service activities connected with the country's strategic location and status as a free trade zone in the Horn of Africa. Two-thirds of Djibouti's inhabitants live in the capital city; the remainder are mostly nomadic herders. Scanty rainfall limits crop production to fruits and vegetables, and most food must be imported. Djibouti provides services as both a transit port for the region and an international transshipment and refueling center. Imports and exports from landlocked ...

— The 2008 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

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