You searched for: “paltry”
paltry, petty, trivial
paltry (PAWL tree) (adjective)
Trivial, meager, measly, inferior: The miser gave a paltry donation to the fund for hungry children.

The quality of the paltry language used by Ernest made it difficult for his listeners to understand what he was trying to say.

petty (PET ee) (adjective)
1. Of secondary or of little or no importance: Philip and Trudy often engaged in petty arguments that went nowhere.
2. Characterized as being narrow-minded; intolerant; limited: Bryan appeared to be a petty individual who was not interested in new music or challenging art.
trivial (TRIV ee uhl) (adjective)
Ordinary, not very important: It was a day filled with trivial activities.

Compared to the problems other countries are having, the trivial inconveniences we have are insignificant.

It seemed petty to argue about the paltry quality of the poultry when less trivial matters needed to be considered.

This entry is located in the following unit: Confusing Words Clarified: Group P; Homonyms, Homophones, Homographs, Synonyms, Polysemes, etc. + (page 1)
Word Entries at Get Words: “paltry”
paltry (adjective), paltrier, paltriest
1. Insignificant or unimportant or very small in amount: Pete was offered a paltry sum of money for showing the ads on his web site.
2. Descriptive of something as trifling, insignificant, or of no consequence: The politician dismissed the statements made by his opponent as of paltry significance.
3. Etymology: it has been suggested that this adjective paltry was borrowed from Low German or East Frisian paltrig, "ragged, torn" and derived from palte, "rag".
Relating to having little or no value.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Pertaining to being insignificant or trashy.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Conveying something as being petty or inferior.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.

This entry is located in the following unit: English Words in Action, Group P (page 1)