beggarly

[ beg-er-lee ]

/ ˈbɛg ər li /

like or befitting a beggar.

meanly inadequate: How does he manage on such a beggarly salary?

Origin of beggarly

First recorded in 1520–30; beggar + -ly

beg·gar·li·ness, noun un·beg·gar·ly, adjective

Will—Tiresome flower, why did Nature give it such a beggarly few petals?

Robert Elsmere |Mrs. Humphry Ward
Are not these beggarly devils sufficiently wretched already?

Gargantua and Pantagruel, Complete. |Francois Rabelais
I will not be at the beck and call of a beggarly tradesfellow!

It Might Have Been |Emily Sarah Holt
Are ye not two beggarly retainers, trencher-parasites, to John?

The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 |Charles Lamb

And no one cares to see that convictions are to them but the clothes with which they cover the beggarly nakedness of their souls.

Foma Gordyeff |Maxim Gorky

beggarly

/ (ˈbɛɡəlɪ) /

meanly inadequate; very poor beggarly living conditions

beggarliness, noun