Definition of "beggarly" [beg•gar•ly]

• Of, relating to, or befitting a beggar; very poor: a beggarly existence in the slums. (adjective)
• So mean, petty, or paltry as to deserve contempt. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "V. i.45 (123,6) A beggarly account of empty boxes] Dr. Warburton would read, a _braggartly_ account; but _beggarly_ is probably right: if the"
• "Simon is an incarnation of what St. Paul calls the beggarly elements; Christ, of spirituality; the woman, of sin."
• "The King had hitherto only given him what Frederick called a beggarly allowance of fifty thousand a year, and even that had not been made over to the prince unconditionally and forever."