Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Origin: paltry 'worthless material' (16-19 centuries)

paltry

 adjective
     
pal‧try
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 formal unimportant or worthless:
paltry issues
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary