paltry
Americanadjective
-
ridiculously or insultingly small.
a paltry sum.
- Synonyms:
- insignificant, slight, inconsiderable, minor
-
utterly worthless.
-
mean or contemptible.
a paltry coward.
adjective
-
insignificant; meagre
-
worthless or petty
Synonym Usage
See petty.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of paltry
First recorded in 1560–70; from Low German paltrig “ragged,” equivalent to *palter “rag” ( dialectal German Palter ) + -ig -y 1
Explanation
A paltry amount is so small it's not even worth thinking about. In the novel Oliver Twist, when Oliver is given a paltry amount of gruel — not nearly enough — he asks, "Please, sir, can I have some more?" Paltry is a laughably small amount — the waiter might chuck a paltry tip in the garbage. If you have only 50 cents in your bank account, it's such a paltry amount, you may as well be broke. It can also mean "not worth considering" or "not important." If you keep breaking your promises, your friends will get sick of your paltry excuses.
Vocabulary lists containing paltry
"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Paltry Parlance: Synonyms for "Few"
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The Odyssey
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Paltry funding left Japan with neither a critical mass of infectious disease experts nor many young scientists entering the field, Kawaoka says.
From Science Magazine • Feb. 9, 2023
Paltry fines and spineless words brought us here, to a place where this hatred can now be expressed en masse at a televised Uefa event.
From The Guardian • Oct. 15, 2019
Paltry one-dimensional terms can’t describe the roiling, sparkling ocean of a person that Pat was.
From Washington Post • Jun. 28, 2016
Paltry investments in EV charging could be transformative.
From Slate • Sep. 10, 2015
“The spider Mercer gave the chickenhead, Isidore; it probably was artificial, too. But it doesn’t matter. The electric things have their lives, too. Paltry as those lives are.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
