paltry

adjective

pal·​try ˈpȯl-trē 

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 restrictions

—Vanessa 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.

Synonyms

• cheap
• contemptible
• cruddy
• deplorable
• despicable
• dirty
• grubby
• lame
• lousy
• mean
• nasty
• pitiable
• pitiful
• ratty
• scabby
• scummy
• scurvy
• sneaking
• sorry
• wretched

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the hotel's shabby, outdated exercise room was its paltry attempt at a health spa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

By contrast, the total for the area’s Black community was a paltry $28,245 (roughly $500,000 today) — less than 0.01% of the white total. —Craig Gill / Made By History, TIME, 13 June 2024

Of the paltry few things millennial culture can take pride in, these performers’ live acts are among them — just ask anyone who saw Usher in Vegas. —Justin Curto, Vulture, 7 June 2024

Netflix launched an app for the Quest in 2019, but the app caps video resolution at a paltry 480p and hasn’t received any recent updates. —Emma Roth, The Verge, 4 June 2024

Secluding oneself by summoning sustenance to our doorstep comes at the expense of the worker earning paltry wages to deliver you that food. —Allie Volpe, Vox, 3 June 2024

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

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Kids Definition

paltry

adjective

pal·​try ˈpȯl-trē 

paltrier; paltriest

1

: petty sense 3, mean

a paltry trick

2

: trivial sense 2, worthless

a paltry sum

paltriness noun