Translation guide
Describes something insufficient in amount, size, or quality. In Japanese, the best choice depends on what is meager: food, income, results, physical build, etc.
The speaker wants to express that something is lacking in quantity, often with a negative nuance.
General word for scarcity or lack, often used for resources, income, or evidence. Can sound formal.
My income is meager.
The evidence is meager.
Simply means 'few' or 'little'. Very common and neutral. Use when 'meager' just means a small amount.
This year's harvest is meager.
Information is meager.
Emphasizes a very small amount, often with a sense of 'only' or 'mere'. Can be used as an adverb or na-adjective.
I live on a meager income.
There is only a meager hope.
Means poor, scanty, or feeble. Often used for content, equipment, or arguments that are lacking in substance.
The content is meager.
Meager facilities.
Literally 'thin', but can mean meager for things like interest, reaction, or chance when they are faint or weak.
The reaction is meager.
The speaker describes a person or animal as lacking flesh, often with a negative or pitiful nuance.
Describes someone who has become very thin, often due to hardship. 'Meager' in the sense of emaciated.
A meager body.
He looked meager.
Means 'poor-looking' or 'wretched'. Can describe a meager physical appearance or shabby look.
A meager physique.
Simply means 'thin'. Can be used for meager arms, legs, etc., but lacks the negative nuance of 'meager' unless context implies it.
The speaker criticizes something as being of low quality, flimsy, or unsatisfactory.
Means 'poor', 'shabby', or 'lousy'. Often used for meager meals, results, or treatment. Has a humble or critical tone.
A meager meal.
Meager results.
Slangy adjective meaning shabby, lame, or pathetic. Used for meager rewards, events, or appearances.
乏しい (toboshii) implies a lack that causes hardship or is problematic, while 少ない (sukunai) is a neutral statement of small quantity. Use 乏しい for 'meager' when the insufficiency is felt strongly.
Food supplies are meager (and it's a problem).
Food supplies are few (just a fact).
English 'meager' for a person often translates to やせ細った (yasehosotta) or 貧相な (hinsō na), not 乏しい (toboshii). Using 乏しい for a person would mean they lack something abstract, like talent, not that they are thin.
細い腕。
Meager arms.
しょぼい給料。
A meager salary.
Meager attire.