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Tenuous vs Paltry - What's the difference?

tenuous | paltry |

As adjectives the difference between tenuous and paltry

is that tenuous is thin in substance or consistency while paltry is trashy, trivial, of little value.

tenuous

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Thin in substance or consistency.
    • The aether was thought to be of tenuous strands.
  • insubstantial
    • His argument was not convincing in the debate, considering how tenuous it was.
  • * July 18 2012 , Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises [http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/]
    • Picking up eight years after The Dark Knight left off, the film finds Gotham enjoying a tenuous peace based on Harvey Dent’s moral ideals rather than the ugly truth of his demise.

    paltry

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l), (l), (l)

    Adjective

    (er)
  • trashy, trivial, of little value
    • This is indeed a paltry flyer about a silly product.
    She made some paltry excuse and left.
  • meager; worthless; pitiful; trifling
    • Could someone hope to survive on such a paltry income?
    Student grants these days are paltry , and many students have to take out loans.

    Usage notes

    * Nouns to which "paltry" is often applied: sum, rate, amount, number, price, salary, wages, fellow, pay, excuse, income, gain, compensation.

    Anagrams

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