paltry

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈpɔltri/ UK /ˈpɔːltri/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
petty or trivial in amount or worth; contemptibly small

They offered a paltry sum for work that had taken months.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · petty or trivial in amount... meager trifling trivial measly insignificant negligible piddling

Opposites

substantial significant considerable ample generous

Word family

Derived forms paltrinesspaltrily

Etymology

Probably from dialectal palt, pelt 'rubbish, trash', of Low German or Scandinavian origin (compare Low German paltrig 'ragged'); of uncertain ultimate source.

paltrig Low German

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# paltry

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɔltri/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɔːltri/

## Meanings
1. petty or trivial in amount or worth; contemptibly small

## Examples
- They offered a paltry sum for work that had taken months.

## Synonyms
- meager
- trifling
- trivial
- measly
- insignificant
- negligible
- piddling

## Antonyms
- substantial
- significant
- considerable
- ample
- generous

## Derived Forms
- paltriness
- paltrily

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: paltrig

## Etymology
Probably from dialectal palt, pelt 'rubbish, trash', of Low German or Scandinavian origin (compare Low German paltrig 'ragged'); of uncertain ultimate source.

## AI Etymology
Paltry is probably from dialectal palt, pelt 'rubbish, trash', of Low German or Scandinavian origin (compare Low German paltrig 'ragged'); of uncertain ultimate source. Important recorded forms include paltrig (Low German). Its earlier history remains partly uncertain, so the etymological chain is best treated cautiously. In current use it covers petty or trivial in amount or worth; contemptibly small. The wider family includes derived forms such as paltriness and paltrily.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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