paltry
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paltry
- /ˈpɒltɹi/ UK
- /ˈpɔːltɹi/ UK
- /ˈpɔltɹi/ US
- /ˈpɑltɹi/ Canada, US, cot caught merger
- /ˈpɔltɹi/ Australia, New Zealand
Sounds like poultry (some accents)
Where it comes from
From Middle Low German paltrig (“ragged, rubbishy, worthless”), from palter, palte (“cloth, rag, shred”), from Old Saxon *paltro, *palto (“cloth, rag”), from Proto-Germanic *paltrô, *paltô (“scrap, rag, patch”). Of uncertain ultimate origin, but perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *polto- (“cloth”), see also Proto-Slavic *poltьno (“linen”).
Cognate with Low German palterig (“ragged, torn”), dialectal German palterig (“paltry”). Compare also Low German palte (“rag”), West Frisian palt (“rag”), Saterland Frisian Palte (“strip; band; tape”), dialectal German Palter (“rag”), Danish pjalt (“rag, tatter”), Swedish palta (“rag”). See also palterly and pelting.
adjective paltrier · paltriest · paultry · paultrie · palterey
- Trashy, trivial, of little value. This is indeed a paltry flyer about a silly product.
- Of little monetary worth. Could someone hope to survive on such a paltry income?
- Despicable; contemptibly unimportant. a paltry coward
