scanty

Etymology

scant + -y

adj

1. Somewhat less than is needed in amplitude or extent.
   Present on the table, one scanty pot of tea, one scanty loaf, two scanty pats of butter, two scanty rashers of bacon, two pitiful eggs, and an abundance of handsome china bought a secondhand bargain. 1864–1865, Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend
   Traditions older than paleoarctic, as scanty as the evidence may be, show clearly that colonization of Alberta and even as far north as southern Alaska came from the south. 1979, by B. Jonson, Amerigine
2. Sparing; niggardly; parsimonious; stingy.
   A girl dressed in scanty clothing