as in nominal
so small or unimportant as to warrant little or no attention
offered her guest only one measly cookie
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Recent Examples of measly
That's down from last year's record-setting $12.2 billion, but way up from the measly $7-$9 billion Americans spent between 2014-2020.
—
Karri Peifer, Axios, 30 Oct. 2024
Rather than hanging out with John Fisher, maybe Bob Nutting should spend some time in Kansas City with John Sherman or in Detroit with Christopher Ilitch, and learn how an investment in players, and a commitment to winning, can pay dividends well beyond a measly $200,000.
—Dan Freedman, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
These aren’t measly sales with no-name brands either.
—Megan McCarty, StyleCaster, 23 July 2024
Forrest is a war hero, college graduate, and gazillionaire, but a couple of measly IQ points, and he is automatically filed as incompetent and incapable.
—Ciara Moloney, IndieWire, 4 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for measly 
Karri Peifer, Axios, 30 Oct. 2024
Rather than hanging out with John Fisher, maybe Bob Nutting should spend some time in Kansas City with John Sherman or in Detroit with Christopher Ilitch, and learn how an investment in players, and a commitment to winning, can pay dividends well beyond a measly $200,000.
—Dan Freedman, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
These aren’t measly sales with no-name brands either.
—Megan McCarty, StyleCaster, 23 July 2024
Forrest is a war hero, college graduate, and gazillionaire, but a couple of measly IQ points, and he is automatically filed as incompetent and incapable.
—Ciara Moloney, IndieWire, 4 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for measly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for measly
Adjective
-
The object of their largesse was an obscure nonprofit called the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation which, for the better part of two decades, had quietly helped firefighters by raising funds for equipment — often things as nominal as gloves and flashlights — not covered in the city budget.—
David Wharton,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Jan. 2025
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Ever since, however, TCU has started three wings alongside Van Lith and Sedona Prince, once again making the fifth-year senior the nominal point guard.—
Sabreena Merchant,
The Athletic,
20 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
The snow started falling Sunday afternoon, with a slight mix of hail.—
Joseph Wilkinson,
New York Daily News,
19 Jan. 2025
-
That slight warming trend is expected to continue Friday, when high temperatures reach the upper 30s, with lows in the upper teens.—
Matt Hubbard,
Baltimore Sun,
19 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Those in-the-moment progressions can feel tiny and barely perceptible from one session to the next.—
Cindy Kuzma,
SELF,
16 Jan. 2025
-
Despite their immense size, these gentle giants are filter feeders, primarily consuming plankton, small fish, and other tiny organisms by swimming with their mouths open to filter food from the water.—
Melissa Cristina Marquez,
Forbes,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Tinder was still in its infancy, a paltry 11 percent of Americans had tried online dating, and the idea of falling for an artificial intelligence companion would have been seen as weird, sad or some combination of the two.—
Gina Cherelus,
New York Times,
16 Jan. 2025
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This season, Hill averaged 15.8 PPR PTS in the 10 full games logged by Tua and had a paltry 8.6 mark in the seven contests in which Thompson or Tyler Huntley played.—
Brandon Funston,
The Athletic,
10 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near measly
Cite this Entry
“Measly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/measly. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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