paltry

[ pawl-tree ]

adjective

, pal·tri·er, pal·tri·est.

1. ridiculously or insultingly small:

   a paltry sum.

   Synonyms: insignificant, slight, inconsiderable, minor

   Antonyms: major, important

2. utterly worthless.
3. mean or contemptible:

   a paltry coward.

paltry

/ ˈpɔːltrɪ /

adjective

1. insignificant; meagre
2. worthless or petty

Derived Forms

• ˈpaltrily, adverb
• ˈpaltriness, noun

Other Words From

• paltri·ly adverb
• paltri·ness noun
• un·paltry adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of paltry¹

First recorded in 1560–70; from Low German paltrig “ragged,” equivalent to *palter “rag” ( dialectal German Palter ) + -ig -y ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of paltry¹

C16: from Low Germanic palter, paltrig ragged

Synonym Study

See petty.

Example Sentences

During the ten minutes it was plugged in, the Mach-E only added a paltry 5 kWh.

From Popular-Science

The United States gained back a paltry 49,000 jobs in January.

From Washington Post

The economy only grew by a paltry 1 percent in the last last three months of 2020, according to last week’s Bureau of Economic Analysis figures.

From Washington Post

As articulate and attractive young adults, all three participants meet the basic requirements for influencer status, despite their initially paltry follower counts.

From Time

The paltry nature of expected per-person payments was explained last week by plaintiffs in a filing that asked the US District Court for the Northern District of California to approve the settlement.

From Ars Technica

In all these elections, it was the suburbs—not paltry gains in the cities—that made the difference.

From The Daily Beast

Also shown are the (paltry) sums spent by each organization on candidates and campaigns.

From The Daily Beast

Salem the prep school kid felt so slighted by a paltry $3 million bonus in 2011 that he left the firm.

From The Daily Beast

Well, there was nothing paltry about Obamacare or rescuing the country from an oncoming depression.

From The Daily Beast

In his first season as owner of the San Diego Clippers, the team drew a paltry 4,344 fans a game.

From The Daily Beast

What are a few paltry, lumps of crystallised carbon compared to a galaxy of a million million suns?

From Project Gutenberg

Nothing can be more juvenile or paltry than the works of the native Belgians here exhibited.

From Project Gutenberg

The present Great Mogul has so little taste, that he has had this divan divided into two parts by a very paltry partition wall.

From Project Gutenberg

Unfortunately for the acquisition of paltry news, it was Um-ko, not Mata, who came out to purchase.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet those would sound like paltry excuses after a six months' expedition to Paris.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• insignificant
• meager
• measly
• miserable
• pitiful
• puny
• trivial