as in sparse
less plentiful than what is normal, necessary, or desirable
survived on a hand-to-mouth income that came from any odd job that he could find
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hand-to-mouth
Both dropped out of college and essentially lived hand-to-mouth in order to pursue their musical dreams.
—
Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Jan. 2025
Based on the real fundamentals, the stock price would be in the low, single digits - just a fraction of its current price.
Worse, the company is living hand-to-mouth because of the minuscule revenues, large negative earnings, and high cash outflow.
—John S. Tobey, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024
The brand recommends using them in tandem with NRTs to satiate the hand-to-mouth habit of vaping.
—Lina Abascal, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2024
Teach your children how to avoid hand-to-mouth behaviors.
—Steffini Stalos, Verywell Health, 3 Oct. 2024
The motive can range from adolescent rebellion to adult thrill-seeking to hand-to-mouth poverty.
—Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2024
Inside the Billion-Dollar Effort to Clean Up the Seine
While many athletes live hand-to-mouth, the IOC enjoys an opulent existence.
—Jules Boykoff, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024
My dad lived very hand-to-mouth, and my mum used to buy a lot through catalogues and got herself into some bad debt.
—R29 Team, refinery29.com, 8 May 2024
The casting Ripley begins with Tom living hand-to-mouth in New York City through small cons until he’s hired to convince wayward shipbuilding heir Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to leave his extended Italian holiday painting mediocre still lifes and return home to his frustrated family.
—Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 6 June 2024
Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Jan. 2025
Based on the real fundamentals, the stock price would be in the low, single digits - just a fraction of its current price.
Worse, the company is living hand-to-mouth because of the minuscule revenues, large negative earnings, and high cash outflow.
—John S. Tobey, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024
The brand recommends using them in tandem with NRTs to satiate the hand-to-mouth habit of vaping.
—Lina Abascal, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2024
Teach your children how to avoid hand-to-mouth behaviors.
—Steffini Stalos, Verywell Health, 3 Oct. 2024
The motive can range from adolescent rebellion to adult thrill-seeking to hand-to-mouth poverty.
—Daniel De Visé, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2024
Inside the Billion-Dollar Effort to Clean Up the Seine
While many athletes live hand-to-mouth, the IOC enjoys an opulent existence.
—Jules Boykoff, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024
My dad lived very hand-to-mouth, and my mum used to buy a lot through catalogues and got herself into some bad debt.
—R29 Team, refinery29.com, 8 May 2024
The casting Ripley begins with Tom living hand-to-mouth in New York City through small cons until he’s hired to convince wayward shipbuilding heir Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) to leave his extended Italian holiday painting mediocre still lifes and return home to his frustrated family.
—Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 6 June 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hand-to-mouth
Adjective
-
Research on caterpillar venoms is still sparse enough that no new drugs have resulted yet, but venoms of other organisms have yielded some important therapies.—
Bob Holmes,
JSTOR Daily,
27 Feb. 2025
-
His words, though often sparse and cryptic, usually mattered more than those of his counterparts, fueling a political mystique of infallibility.—
Megan Crepeau,
Chicago Tribune,
16 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The area normally can expect 38.4 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Chicago was warmer than average during the 2023-24 season due to a La Niña climate system, which meant snow was scarce.—
Kori Rumore,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Mar. 2025
-
Over the last decade, counties where large majorities of residents drink fluoridated water have consistently posted low rates of emergency room visits for dental conditions, especially in comparison to counties where fluoridated water is relatively scarce.—
Cindy Krischer Goodman,
Orlando Sentinel,
3 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
And another research team, using data from 2015 to 2022, observed in an article available in Energy Research and Social Science that poor income distribution correlates with social unrest when fossil fuel subsidies are removed.—
Aldo Flores-Quiroga,
Forbes,
1 Mar. 2025
-
The board meeting featured a slideshow that indicated pre-sales of NASCAR Heat 5 were very poor, 27% behind NASCAR Heat 4 (the previous game in the series) at the same time in development.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
28 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hand-to-mouth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hand-to-mouth. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share