modest vs scant

modest

adj
  • Pure and delicate from a sense of propriety. 

  • Intending to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. 

  • Not bragging or boasting about oneself or one's achievements; unpretentious, humble. 

  • Small, moderate in size. 

scant

adj
  • Sparing; parsimonious; chary. 

  • Not full, large, or plentiful; scarcely sufficient; scanty; meager. 

det
  • Very little, very few. 

verb
  • To fail, or become less; to scantle. 

  • To limit in amount or share; to stint. 

noun
  • A sheet of stone. 

  • Scarcity; lack. 

  • A small piece or quantity. 

  • A slightly thinner measurement of a standard wood size. 

  • A block of stone sawn on two sides down to the bed level. 

How often have the words modest and scant occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )