paltry
Adjective Satellite
- not worth considering
- "he considered the prize too paltry for the lives it must cost"
- contemptibly small in amount
- "a paltry wage"
Adj
- Trashy, trivial, of little value.
- Of little monetary worth.
- Despicable; contemptibly unimportant.
Adjective
- Small or meager; trivial or worthless.
Examples
- a paltry coward
- After that impressive play, his previous score seemed absolutely PALTRY by comparison.
- Could someone hope to survive on such a paltry income?
- She made some paltry excuse and left.
- Student grants these days are paltry, and many students have to take out loans.
- This is indeed a paltry flyer about a silly product.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle Low German paltrig (“ragged, rubbishy, worthless”), from palter, palte (“cloth, rag, shred”), from Old Saxon *paltro, *palto (“cloth, rag”), from Proto-Germanic *paltrô, *paltô (“scrap, rag, patch”). Of uncertain ultimate origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *polto- (“cloth”), see also Proto-Slavic *poltьno (“linen”).
Cognate with Low German palterig (“ragged, torn”), dialectal German palterig (“paltry”). Compare also Low German palte (“rag”), West Frisian palt (“rag”), Saterland Frisian Palte (“strip; band; tape”), dialectal German Palter (“rag”), Danish pjalt (“rag, tatter”), Swedish palta (“rag”). See also palterly and pelting.
Synonyms
measly, miserable, negligible, trifling, beggarly, insignificant, meager, petty, pitiful, trivial, unimportant, worthless
Scrabble Score: 11
paltry: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordpaltry: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
paltry: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary