Vanessa Feltz
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Before paltry was an adjective, it was a noun meaning trash. That now-obsolete noun came from palt or pelt, a dialect term referring to a piece of coarse cloth, or more broadly, to trash. The adjective paltry, which dates to the mid-16th century, originally described things considered worthless, or of very low quality, but it's gained a number of meanings over the centuries, none of which are complimentary. A paltry house might be neglected and unfit for occupancy; a paltry trick is a trick that is low-down and dirty; a paltry excuse is a poor one; and a paltry sum is small and insufficient.
Examples of paltry in a Sentence
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
7 June 2026
On the other side, despite shooting a paltry 4-of-9 from the field, Angel Reese still managed to secure a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
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Alejandro Avila Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
5 June 2026
Eight of those paltry performances have come in the past 33 games, as the Padres have fallen from 19-9 to 32-29.
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Kevin Acee,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
4 June 2026
But no candidate ever had much more than a paltry 20% support; for all the heavy breathing, the race was always pretty much a multi-candidate tie.
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Los Angeles Times,
3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for paltry
Cite this Entry
“Paltry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paltry. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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paltry
adjective
