List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 233

SYNONYMS: meager, spare, sparse, skimpy, scanty, scant.
These adjectives mean lacking in quantity, fullness, or extent.

Meager suggests leanness (a small, meager woman); in a less specific sense it implies an insufficiency of what is needed for completeness or richness: meager fare; meager resources. The report that we saw was meager.
Spare implies bare sufficiency without excess: The library had a spare but efficient look about it. The author's style is spare and elegant.
Sparse indicates a lack of density and a thin distribution of units: a sparse hedge; sparse hair;
Skimpy implies inadequacy, as in length or fullness, such as might result from frugality or stinginess: a skimpy dress; a skimpy allowance. The skimpy rug barely covers the floor.
Scanty implies a lack of sufficiency, as in extent, quantity, or degree: His knowledge of mathematics is superficial and scanty. His financial problems were caused by a scanty harvest.
Scant applies to what is barely enough (gave us scant respect) or to what falls short of an expected or desired amount (The movers gave me a scant hour's notice of their arrival).