paltry — pal‧try [ˈpɔːltri ǁ ˈpɒːl ] adjective very small in number or amount and therefore not useful, important, or valuable: • As interest rates fell, returns on fixed income investments looked paltry compared with the stock market gains. * * * paltry… … Financial and business terms
paltry — pal try (p[add]l tr[y^]), a. [Compar. {Paltrier} (p[add]l tr[i^]*[ e]r); superl. {Paltriest}.] [Cf. Prov. E. paltry refuse, rubbish, LG. palterig ragged, palte, palter, a rag, a tatter, Dan. pialt, Sw. palta, pl. paltor.] Mean; vile; worthless;… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
paltry — (adj.) 1560s, probably an adjectival use of noun paltry worthless thing (1550s), associated with dialectal palt, pelt trash, cognate with M.L.G. and E.Fris. palte rag, M.Du. palt broken or torn fragment. Cf. Low Ger. paltrig rubbishy, E.Fris.… … Etymology dictionary
paltry — trifling, trivial, *petty, puny, measly, picayunish, picayune Analogous words: *contemptible, despicable, sorry, scurvy, cheap, beggarly, shabby: abject, ignoble, *mean: *base, low, vile … New Dictionary of Synonyms
paltry — [adj] poor; worthless base, beggarly, cheap, common, contemptible, derisory, despicable, inconsiderable, ineffectual, insignificant, limited, low, low down*, meager, mean, measly, minor, miserable, narrow, petty, picayune, piddling, pitiful, puny … New thesaurus
paltry — ► ADJECTIVE (paltrier, paltriest) 1) (of an amount) very small or meagre. 2) petty; trivial. DERIVATIVES paltriness noun. ORIGIN probably from dialect pelt «rubbish» … English terms dictionary
paltry — [pôl′trē] adj. paltrier, paltriest [prob. < LowG paltrig, ragged < palte, a rag] practically worthless; trifling; insignificant; contemptible; petty paltriness n … English World dictionary
paltry — pal|try [ˈpo:ltri US ˈpo:l ] adj [Date: 1500 1600; Origin: paltry worthless material (16 19 centuries)] 1.) a paltry amount of something is too small to be useful or important ▪ paltry sum of money ▪ He received only a paltry £25 a day. 2.)… … Dictionary of contemporary English
paltry — [[t]pɔ͟ːltri[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED: usu ADJ n, oft a ADJ amount A paltry amount of money or something else is one that you consider to be very small. ...a paltry fine of ₤150... They suffered an electoral catastrophe, winning a paltry 3 seats. 2)… … English dictionary
paltry — adjective (paltrier; est) Etymology: obsolete paltry trash, from dialect palt, pelt piece of coarse cloth, trash; akin to Middle Low German palte rag Date: 1570 1. inferior, trashy 2. mean, despicable < a paltry trick > 3 … New Collegiate Dictionary
