paltry

English

Alternative forms

• paultry, paultrie, palterey

Etymology

Probably 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”). Cognate with Eastern Frisian palterig (“ragged, torn”), German dialectal palterig (“paltry”). Compare also Low German palte (“rag”), West Frisian palt (“rag”), German dialectal Palter (“rag”), Danish pjalt (“rag, tatter”), Swedish palta (“rag”). See also palterly.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɔːltɹi/, SAMPA: /"PO:ltr\i/

Adjective

paltry (comparative paltrier, superlative paltriest)

1. trashy, trivial, of little value

   This is indeed a paltry flyer about a silly product.

   She made some paltry excuse and left.

2. meager; worthless; pitiful; trifling

   Could someone hope to survive on such a paltry income?

   Student grants these days are paltry, and many students have to take out loans.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "paltry" is often applied: sum, rate, amount, number, price, salary, wages, fellow, pay, excuse, income, gain, compensation.

Translations

trashy, trivial, of little value

Finnish: surkea (fi) French: dérisoire (fr)

Russian: пустяковый (ru), незначительный (ru)

meager; worthless; pitiful; trifling

Finnish: mitätön (fi) French: misérable (fr), dérisoire (fr)

Greek: ισχνός (el) (ischnós) Russian: жалкий (ru)

Anagrams

• partly
• raptly