How to Use paltry in a Sentence

paltry

adjective
  • In other words, last month’s paltry jobs total may have been a blip.
    — Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 7 Aug. 2024
  • All things are too small because each of us can only be one paltry person at a time.
    — Becca Rothfeld, Harper's Magazine, 2 Mar. 2024
  • The Blue Jackets have just a paltry three points in their last nine games.
    — Sean McIndoe, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025
  • But, even if true, these are relatively paltry cracks in the façade.
    — Ian Johnson, CNN, 12 Oct. 2022
  • The game ball goes to the Bomber defense, which gave up a paltry 94 yards.
    — Brendan Connelly, The Enquirer, 19 Aug. 2023
  • But this may come at the expense of a weak trunk and paltry root system that cannot support the canopy.
    — Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 17 Oct. 2024
  • The free-agent market is paltry at best, so Guerin will likely have to make his mark via trade.
    — Michael Russo, New York Times, 26 May 2026
  • The amount of snow will be paltry, with only a dusting to light snowfall likely.
    — Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 10 Feb. 2025
  • For most of a sloth’s nutritional needs, a paltry diet of leaves will have to make do.
    — Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 15 Jan. 2024
  • The news inspired Winfrey, who was making ends meet on a paltry salary.
    — Erin Jensen, USA Today, 14 June 2025
  • Allen was relieved of his duties after the team dropped to a paltry 2-7 start.
    — David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Ferrell and Huff each had four sacks to lead the 49ers’ paltry totals.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 20 Jan. 2026
  • That is paltry compared with last year, when the main lodge received 220 inches of snow.
    — Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times, 2 Feb. 2024
  • This final exchange pointed again to the paltry outcomes of the summit.
    — Simon Shuster, Time, 16 Aug. 2025
  • Things haven’t been much better in Manchester, who start the match week at a paltry 16th.
    — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 21 May 2025
  • The writing is staid and corporate, the photos are stock, and the engagement is paltry.
    — Brandon Carter, Quartz, 24 Mar. 2023
  • As of this writing, the film sits at a paltry 15% on Rotten Tomatoes.
    — Randall Colburn, EW.com, 2 Aug. 2025
  • Nothing went right for the Aces, who were outscored in all four quarters, including scoring a paltry nine points in the fourth.
    — Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Aug. 2025
  • Rodgers didn't have a terrible year per se, but the Jets ended the season with a paltry 5-12 record.
    — Tommy Tuberville, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
  • Small storage space in the K4 is on the paltry side, as the center console is pretty dinky and the door pockets shallow.
    — Kristin Shaw, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2025
  • On top of the tariff challenges, paltry snowfall in the West has led to less exposure for Wildcoat’s gear.
    — Max Scheinblum, Denver Post, 7 Feb. 2026
  • But those refunds were relatively paltry.
    — Erin Doherty, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2025
  • The other candidates in the races have raised sums that are paltry in comparison to Bera and Hall.
    — Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 21 Apr. 2026
  • The Saints ended the season with a paltry 5-12 record, despite having playmakers on both sides of the ball.
    — Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 22 Feb. 2025
  • Snow there has been so paltry this winter, that even Nashville – 700 miles to the southeast of the Twin Cities – has had more.
    — Mary Gilbert, CNN, 11 Feb. 2024
  • With such a paltry salary, advocates for the idea say, lawmakers are typically wealthy, retired or need to seek out help from patrons of one sort or another to get by.
    — Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 12 Jan. 2026
  • The paltry paycheck, apparently, didn’t factor at all into her decision.
    — Lara Walsh, InStyle, 4 Mar. 2026
  • The mild start of winter has brought relatively paltry snow to Colorado’s high country, reducing the risks of avalanches hitting highways.
    — Bruce Finley, Denver Post, 9 Jan. 2026
  • Employees, many of whom were classified as part-time or independent contractors, earned paltry wages despite working gruelling weeks.
    — Thessaly La Force, New Yorker, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The budget is slightly smaller than the current one, sets aside $14 billion in reserves and contains a paltry menu of tax cuts worth $146 million.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 28 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'paltry.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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