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.
But no candidate ever had much more than a paltry 20% support; for all the heavy breathing, the race was always pretty much a multi-candidate tie.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026
Net foreign direct investment in the fiscal year that ended March 31 was a paltry $7.7 billion, down from $28 billion three years earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
McDonald’s Chief Executive Chris Kempczinski had taken what social media mocked as a paltry nibble in a video promoting the chain’s new Big Arch burger, or “product,” as the CEO called it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 7, 2026
Against Ireland a fortnight ago, England made 16 visits to the opposition 22, but returned with a relatively paltry 21 points.
From BBC • Mar. 7, 2026
How strange and paltry it seemed at the time, and now, looking back, what an abundance of good protein had been sacrificed in our honor.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
