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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.

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“But discovery revealed that Defendants’ paltry ‘intelligence’ was manufactured to justify operations at public access locations Defendants were already intent on raiding,” according to the motion.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 28, 2026

Graduates will enter an economy struggling with weak consumer demand, where year-on-year retail sales contracted for the first time in three years in May, and revenue in the catering sector rose a paltry 0.6 percent.

From Barron's Jul. 2, 2026

Phil Taylor, director of the charity Open Seas, described the fine as "paltry".

From BBC Jun. 8, 2026

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

If Papa- Nnukwu minded that his son sent him impersonal, paltry amounts of money through a driver, he didn’t show it.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

So far, milder summer temperatures have spared him from the prospect of even paltrier yields.

From Washington Times Aug. 2, 2014

If one of the meanest of human conditions is conscious heroism, paltrier yet is heroism before the fact, incapable of self realization!

From The Marquis of Lossie by MacDonald, George

It is a triumph over cowardice, baseness, the love of ease and safety, all the paltrier aspects of our nature; but a triumph over death it is not.

From God and Mr. Wells A Critical Examination of 'God the Invisible King' by Archer, William

He must maintain appearances in keeping with his associations—or drop downscale to meaner opportunities and paltrier prizes.

From The Law of Hemlock Mountain by Lundsford, Hugh

Ah! what a contrast there is between the languid way in which Christian men pursue what the Bible designates their 'calling' and that in which men with far paltrier aims pursue theirs!

From Expositions of Holy Scripture Second Corinthians, Galatians, and Philippians Chapters I to End. Colossians, Thessalonians, and First Timothy. by Maclaren, Alexander

This not only explains why Jupiter only has the paltriest of rings at present; it suggests that it likely never had large rings.

From Salon Jul. 22, 2022

Meanwhile, the true laborers of the book industry — those who hustle and work the angles, who take the greatest risks and reap the paltriest rewards — will barely get any bookseller facetime at all.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 4, 2020

The spring snowpack is the paltriest ever measured — by April it contained just 5% of a normal year’s water — and by the end of August the major reservoirs held 59% of their historical average.

From Nature Sep. 29, 2015

I won't hear you, because my risk is of the paltriest kind.

From After Dark by Collins, Wilkie

He kept as much as possible to dialogue; the space is filled so much more quickly, and at a pinch one can make people talk about the paltriest incidents of life.

From New Grub Street by Gissing, George




Vocabulary lists containing paltry


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