paltry
/ˈpɒltɹi/
"paltry" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“paltry” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #34,625 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #34,625
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Trashy, trivial, of little value.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | paltry |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈpɒltɹi/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #34,625 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “paltry” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for paltry is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpɒltɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,625 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for paltry, with forms such as "apltry", "palltry", and "palrty". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "party", "Patty", "parry", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 fro… The correct English form is paltry, spelled P-A-L-T-R-Y.
Definition
- 1Trashy, trivial, of little value.
- 2Of little monetary worth.
- 3Despicable; contemptibly unimportant.
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 and pelting.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: apltry,palltry,palrty,paltrry,paltryy,palttry,paltyr,patlry,platry,ppaltry
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of paltry - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "paltry"?
What does "paltry" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "paltry"?
How do you pronounce "paltry"?
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Using “paltry”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-L-T-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɒltɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “party” - see the side-by-side comparison. paltry vs party
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.