paltry
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paltry
trashy, worthless: The prize was too paltry to justify an effort to win.; contemptible: The paltry wage that they offer is an insult.
Not to be confused with:
poultry – chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese raised for food
pal·try
(pôl′trē)adj. pal·tri·er, pal·tri·est
1. Lacking in importance or worth. See Synonyms at trivial.
2. Very small or inadequate in amount; negligible: was paid a paltry sum for his work.
3. Marked by meanness or lack of generosity; contemptible: "I would far rather burn my whole book, than that he or any other man should think that I had behaved in a paltry spirit" (Charles Darwin).
[Probably from obsolete and dialectal paltry, trash, perhaps from Low German paltrig, ragged, from palte, rag.]
pal′tri·ly adv.
pal′tri·ness n.
paltry
(ˈpɔːltrɪ)adj, -trier or -triest
1. insignificant; meagre
2. worthless or petty
[C16: from Low Germanic palter, paltrig ragged]
ˈpaltrily adv
ˈpaltriness n
pal•try
(ˈpɔl tri)adj. -tri•er, -tri•est.
1. ridiculously or insultingly small: a paltry sum.
2. utterly worthless: paltry clothes.
3. mean or contemptible: a paltry coward.
[1560–70; < Low German paltrig ragged =*palter rag (compare dial. German Palter) + -ig -y1]
pal′tri•ness, n.
syn: See petty.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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Adj. | 1. | paltry - not worth considering; "he considered the prize too paltry for the lives it must cost"; "piffling efforts"; "a trifling matter" worthless - lacking in usefulness or value; "a worthless idler" |
2. | ![]() |
paltry
adjective
1. meagre, petty, trivial, trifling, beggarly, derisory, measly, piddling (informal), inconsiderable He was fined the paltry sum of $50.
meagre considerable, valuable
meagre considerable, valuable
2. insignificant, trivial, worthless, unimportant, small, low, base, minor, slight, petty, trifling, Mickey Mouse (slang), piddling (informal), toytown (slang), poxy (slang), nickel-and-dime (U.S. slang), picayune (U.S.), chickenshit (U.S. slang), twopenny-halfpenny (Brit. informal) She had no interest in such paltry concerns.
insignificant major, important, grand, significant, essential, consequential
insignificant major, important, grand, significant, essential, consequential
paltry
adjective1. Contemptibly unimportant:
inconsiderable, negligible, niggling, nugatory, petty, picayune, piddling, small, small-minded, trifling.
Slang: measly.
Idiom: of no account.
Translations
paltry
[ˈpɔːltrɪ] (paltrier (compar) (paltriest (superl))) ADJ → ínfimo, miserablefor a few paltry pennies → por unos miserables peniques
for some paltry reason → por alguna nimiedad
paltry
[ˈpɔːltrɪ] adj (meagre) → irrisorio/a; (unworthy of consideration) → insignificantefor a paltry £5 → per la somma irrisoria di 5 sterline