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paltry

[pawl-tree] / ˈpɔl tri /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It still was far from their worst defensive showing of the season, and mostly they couldn’t claw their way back with a paltry 30.8% from the field.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 3, 2026

Then, one day in July 2022, the Knicks signed an undersized point guard named Jalen Brunson to a relatively paltry $104 million contract.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026

If it returns a paltry 2% over the next 13 years, that child will graduate high school with $300,000—enough for college, trade school or a down payment on a home.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026

"It's a paltry sum when you think about the number of households on heating oil," he said.

From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026

I can imagine creatures evolving into glimmerings of knowledge on innumerable worlds, every one of them assuming at first their puny planet and paltry few suns to be all that is.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan




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