paltry

Etymology

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.

adj

1. Trashy, trivial, of little value.
   This is indeed a paltry flyer about a silly product.
   She made some paltry excuse and left.
   There are a great many languages, like Eskimo and Nootka and, aside from paltry exceptions, the Semitic languages, that cannot compound radical elements. 1921, Edward Sapir, Language: An introduction to the study of speech
2. Of little monetary worth.
   Could someone hope to survive on such a paltry income?
   Student grants these days are paltry, and many students have to take out loans.
   Meanwhile, the trade deal has left Britain’s fishing communities screaming betrayal, unhappy with their paltry gains and facing expensive barriers to export what they have caught. 2022-07-08, Daniel Boffey, “Collapsing public support suggests Brexit is anything but done”, in The Guardian
3. Despicable; contemptibly unimportant.
   a paltry coward
   An aged man is but a paltry thing, / A tattered coat upon a stick 1928, William Butler Yeats, Sailing to Byzantium