measly
adj.adj. describing something that is very small, weak, or not enough. You use this to show that you are disappointed because the amount or quality is poor.
adj. describing something as small, insignificant, or insufficient in amount or quality. Often carries a tone of disappointment or criticism; typically used attributively before a noun.
The restaurant only gave us a measly portion of soup.
After working all weekend, he was only paid a measly five dollars for his trouble.
The charity was criticized for providing only a measly amount of aid to the victims, failing to address the scale of the humanitarian crisis.
From measle (“singular of measles”) + -y; the word measle is either from Middle Dutch masel (“a blister filled with blood; a pustule, a skin blemish”), or Middle Low German masel (“a red skin blemish”), from Proto-Germanic masuraz (“a knot or scar in wood; a knarl”), from mas-, mēs- (“a spot; a sore; a scar”), from Proto-Indo-European mos- (“a skin sore”).