Meagre sort of hint (4)
I believe the answer is:
thin
'meagre' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sort of hint' is the wordplay.
'sort of' indicates anagramming the letters.
'hint' with letters rearranged gives 'THIN'.
(Other definitions for thin that I've seen before include "Implausible" , "(Of smile) weak, forced" , "Slender, slight" , "Superficial" , "Slender, narrow" .)