measly
Etymology

From measle + -y; the word measle is either from Middle Dutch masel, or Middle Low German masel, from Proto-Germanic *masuraz, from *mas-, *mēs- ("a spot; a sore; a scar"), from Proto-Indo-European *mos-.

Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈmiːzli/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈmizli/
Adjective

measly (comparative measlier, superlative measliest)

  1. Particularly of pigs or pork: infected with larval tapeworms or trichinae (parasitic roundworms). [from late 16th c.]
  2. Of a person: infected with measles.
  3. (figuratively, informal) Small (especially contemptibly small) in amount. [from mid 19th c.]
    Synonyms: miserable, paltry, trifling
    For one whole day's work all I was given was twenty measly pounds.
Translations


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
Offline English dictionary