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
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.
See Examples For:
“But discovery revealed that Defendants’ paltry ‘intelligence’ was manufactured to justify operations at public access locations Defendants were already intent on raiding,” according to the motion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
Graduates will enter an economy struggling with weak consumer demand, where year-on-year retail sales contracted for the first time in three years in May, and revenue in the catering sector rose a paltry 0.6 percent.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
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
There is no single, standard definition of middle class, or upper middle class, and what counts as a hefty income in one city can feel paltry in another.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
“Him and his paltry wineskins. There are far bigger birds in the air than Rekh the goldsmith. Eh, my friend?”
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
So far, milder summer temperatures have spared him from the prospect of even paltrier yields.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 2, 2014
It is a triumph over cowardice, baseness, the love of ease and safety, all the paltrier aspects of our nature; but a triumph over death it is not.
From God and Mr. Wells A Critical Examination of 'God the Invisible King' by Archer, William
Ah! what a contrast there is between the languid way in which Christian men pursue what the Bible designates their 'calling' and that in which men with far paltrier aims pursue theirs!
From Expositions of Holy Scripture Second Corinthians, Galatians, and Philippians Chapters I to End. Colossians, Thessalonians, and First Timothy. by Maclaren, Alexander
The design is the same in both, the proportions also; but the one is a chimney, the other a paltry model of a paltrier edifice.
From The Poetry of Architecture Or, the Architecture of the Nations of Europe Considered in its Association with Natural Scenery and National Character by Ruskin, John
He must maintain appearances in keeping with his associations—or drop downscale to meaner opportunities and paltrier prizes.
From The Law of Hemlock Mountain by Lundsford, Hugh
This not only explains why Jupiter only has the paltriest of rings at present; it suggests that it likely never had large rings.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2022
Meanwhile, the true laborers of the book industry — those who hustle and work the angles, who take the greatest risks and reap the paltriest rewards — will barely get any bookseller facetime at all.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2020
The spring snowpack is the paltriest ever measured — by April it contained just 5% of a normal year’s water — and by the end of August the major reservoirs held 59% of their historical average.
From Nature ● Sep. 29, 2015
But man, reckless animal, is so made that in him curiosity, the paltriest curiosity, will overcome all terrors, every disgust, and even despair itself.
From Chance A Tale in Two Parts by Conrad, Joseph
And you do keep it up,—all except six yards; through which the biggest team on the highway can drive freely, and the paltriest cadger's ass can step in for a bellyful!
From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 12 by Carlyle, Thomas
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.
