Vanessa Feltz
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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
Examples of paltry in a Sentence
Rob Reischel, Forbes, 8 Sep. 2024
At the time, there were paltry first-run films to play.
—Jake Coyle, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Sep. 2024
What a paltry premise for growing up and growing old.
—Lola Milholland, TIME, 3 Sep. 2024
Other shifts included dissipating cloudiness, paltry precipitation (but also devastating deluges), expanding drought, record-setting wildfires, shriveling glaciers and ice sheets, and rising sea level.
—Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 31 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.
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Cite this Entry
“Paltry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paltry. Accessed 20 Sep. 2024.
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paltry
adjective
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