What's the difference between "paltry" and "meager"? Any connotations?
Learn English – What’s the difference between “paltry” and “meager”
meaning
Related Solutions
Yet another is more emphatic. It implies that the list of things being counted is getting really long, and suggests a certain amount of impatience or irritation on the part of the speaker.
From an article on “What is the Difference Between Caviar and Roe?” at www.culinarylore.com:
They refer to the same thing: fish eggs. However, the term roe refers to the fish eggs (or male fish sperm) themselves while caviar is roe that has been salted or "cured" and then placed in tins for storage and aging. In the United States and Canada, any product that is only labeled caviar must come from sturgeon roe. If it contains the roe from any other fish, such as whitefish, it must be labelled with the name of the fish, such as whitefish roe, salmon roe, carp roe, trout roe, etc. The roe of shellfish is also used. In Europe, however, the term caviar is reserved exclusively for the roe of sturgeon. Roe from other fish must be called caviar substitute.
Here is a pictorial comparison of them, with salmon eggs on the left and sturgeon caviar on the right:
Best Answer
I found at least one dictionary that listed meager as a definition of paltry, suggesting that the two words could be used interchangeably in some contexts, particularly if you are talking about an amount.
However, if you look up both these words on Wordnik, you see some subtle differences in their meaning.
Paltry suggests something is contemptible, unimportant, and insignificant; while meager suggests something is deficient or scant.
When applied to a salary, then, a paltry salary wouldn't necessarily be lower than a meager salary, but it might suggest that the wages were insultingly low.
Although Wordnik lists both words as "equivalents" (you see that at the bottom of the page), the synonym list varies rather significantly. Synonyms for paltry include: worthless, contemptible, despicable; synonyms for paltry include: barren, gaunt, and impoverished.
I strongly suggest looking at both pages on Wordnik, as those two web pages can provide much more information than my meager contribution.