Scantest

Part of speech: adjective, superlative

Definitions

1. Lacking in quantity or extent; being minimal in amount or degree; representing the least possible in comparison to others
2. Characterized by a deficiency, where only the barest minimum is provided, which results in a scarcity of substance
3. Referring to something that is present in such a small degree that it almost becomes negligible or insignificant

Etymology: "Scantest" is the superlative of "scant", so its story is really the story of the base word. The root goes back to a Proto-Indo-European sense of being cut short or mutilated, applied to animals lacking horns. Through Proto-Germanic, the idea of shortness reached Old Norse as "skammr", meaning "short", and the neuter form "skamt" passed into Middle English as "scant", still carrying that sense of something cut back or falling short. The original meaning of shortness survives in the modern sense of a shortfall: a scant portion is one that does not quite reach what is needed. The superlative "scantest" therefore describes the point where a supply or quantity falls shortest of adequacy, the barest possible amount with substance missing.

Synonyms: minimal, least, meager, barest, slightest

Antonyms: most, maximum, greatest, ample, abundant