Synonyms of the word

hardscrabble

• adj. Of land: taking a lot of work to farm, and even then not very productive.

marginal

• adj. (not comparable) Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location…
• adj. (comparable) Determined by a small margin; having a salient characteristic determined by a small margin.
• adj. (economics, not comparable) Pertaining to changes resulting from a unit increase in production or consumption…
• n. Something that is marginal.
• n. A constituency won with a small margin.

meager

• adj. Having little flesh; lean; thin.
• adj. Poor, deficient or inferior in amount, quality or extent; paltry; scanty; inadequate; unsatisfying.
• adj. (set theory) Of a set: such that, considered as a subset of a (usually larger) topological space, it is…
• adj. (mineralogy) Dry and harsh to the touch (e.g., as chalk).
• v. (transitive) To make lean.

meagerly

• adv. In a meager way; poorly; inadequately.

meagre

• n. Argyrosomus regius, an edible fish of the family Sciaenidae.
• adj. Having little flesh; lean; thin.
• adj. Deficient or inferior in amount, quality or extent; paltry; scanty; inadequate; unsatisfying.
• adj. (set theory) Of a set: such that, considered as a subset of a (usually larger) topological space, it is…
• adj. (mineralogy) Dry and harsh to the touch (e.g., as chalk).
• v. (transitive) To make lean.

poor

• adj. With little or no possessions or money, particularly in relation to contemporaries who do have them.
• adj. Of low quality.
• adj. Used to express pity.
• adj. Deficient in a specified way.
• adj. Inadequate, insufficient.
• adj. Free from self-assertion; not proud or arrogant; meek.
• n. (with "the") Those who have little or no possessions or money, taken as a group.

stingy

• adj. Stinging; able to sting.
• adj. Unwilling to spend, give, or share; ungenerous; mean.
• adj. Small, scant, meager, insufficient.