paltry

adjective

pal·​try ˈpȯl-trē How to pronounce paltry (audio)
paltrier; paltriest
1
: inferior, trashy
built paltry houses unfit for occupancy
2
: mean, despicable
a paltry trick
3
: trivial
a paltry excuse
they in their greatness don't have to bother with such paltry restrictionsVanessa Feltz
4
: meager, measly
made a paltry donation
Sales have increased by a paltry two percent.
paltriness noun

Did you know?

Before "paltry" was an adjective, it was a noun meaning "trash." That now obsolete noun in turn came from "palt" or "pelt," dialect terms meaning "a piece of coarse cloth," or broadly, "trash." The adjective "paltry" first meant "trashy," but currently has a number of senses, all generally meaning "no good." A "paltry house" might be run-down and unfit for occupancy; a "paltry trick" is a trick that is low-down and dirty; a "paltry excuse" is a trivial one; and a "paltry sum" is small and insufficient.

Examples of paltry in a Sentence

a paltry, underhanded scheme to get someone fired the hotel's shabby, outdated exercise room was its paltry attempt at a health spa
Recent Examples on the Web However, Lewis Millstone did option The Twelve Chairs and paid them $600 to write a treatment for the movie (an amount of money that was paltry compared to many Hollywood writers’ paydays but princely compared to the Soviet Union). Tom Teicholz, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024 To achieve rapid intensification, a tropical cyclone needs to increase its winds by a comparably paltry 35 mph. Andrew Freedman, Axios, 15 Oct. 2024 By 2022, sleep and mood playlists were directing millions of plays—and, despite streaming’s paltry economics, surprisingly robust royalty checks—to nominally obscure experimental musicians like William Basinski, whose music otherwise has little outwardly populist appeal. Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 11 Oct. 2024 Democrats have booked a relatively paltry $24 million on the screens, still dominating the $27 million in play. Philip Elliott, TIME, 8 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for paltry 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'paltry.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

obsolete paltry trash, from dialect palt, pelt piece of coarse cloth, trash; akin to Middle Low German palte rag

First Known Use

1565, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of paltry was in 1565

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Dictionary Entries Near paltry

Cite this Entry

“Paltry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paltry. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

paltry

adjective
pal·​try ˈpȯl-trē How to pronounce paltry (audio)
paltrier; paltriest
1
: petty sense 3, mean
a paltry trick
2
: trivial sense 2, worthless
a paltry sum
paltriness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on paltry

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