measly amount
- noun
- /ˈmizli əˈmaʊnt/
- Informal
:
miseria
- He was paid a measly amount for his hard work.
Examples
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The charity received a measly amount of support from the local businesses.
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After taxes, his bonus was reduced to a measly amount.
-
They only paid us a measly amount for all that work we did.
-
That's a measly amount for such a big project!
-
The measly amount she received for her freelance work left her feeling undervalued.
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He was disappointed with the measly amount of food served at the event.
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Despite their efforts, the team was rewarded with a measly amount of funding for their project.
Synonyms
15
7.9
A very small amount of money paid to someone for their work
8
8.2
A very small amount of money that hardly matters next to bigger costs
2
8.1
A very small, unimportant amount
2
9.9
Something of little or no worth
A very small amount of money that is not worth much
A very small amount of money or something of little value
A very small amount of money that has little value
A tiny, not exact bit of something
A very small amount of food that is less than you expect
Antonyms
How Small
- Informal
1
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'measly' directly modifies 'amount' to indicate a very small or insufficient quantity, so the combined meaning is immediately derivable from the constituents. This is a regular adjective + noun composition common across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand the phrase.
Etymology
Measly amount began with the word measly, which once described things covered in small spots like the illness measles, and those small spots gave the idea of something weak or poor. That's why people started using measly to mean 'very small and disappointing', so a measly amount means a tiny sum that is not enough.