Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1800-1900
Origin: measly 'suffering from measles, spotty' (17-19 centuries), from measles

measly

 adjective
     
meas‧ly informal
very small and disappointing in size, quantity, or value - used to show disapproval:
All I got was a measly £5.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary