What's the difference between frivolous and paltry?

Frivolous


Definition:

  • (a.) Of little weight or importance; not worth notice; slight; as, a frivolous argument.
  • (a.) Given to trifling; marked with unbecoming levity; silly; interested especially in trifling matters.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world’s leading centre of Islamic learning, called on Muslims to “ignore the nasty frivolity” of the latest edition.
  • (2) Kleiner Perkins’ lawyer Lynne Hermle said in closing arguments that Pao’s claims were “meritless and frivolous”.
  • (3) In this Article the Author endorses countersuits as the most appropriate response to frivolous medical malpractice actions.
  • (4) A spokesman for the UK's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said the treaty's provisions are designed to discourage frivolous investor-state disputes.
  • (5) The scent of grilled seafood and herbs; a refreshing salad; some tiny potatoes with summer herbs and a frivolous dessert of fruit and cream is not too much to ask.
  • (6) I’m hoping the stadium is well policed and I’m hoping we will be OK.” The hope, then, is the night will bring as dramatic a reckoning as can be served by that wonderful frivolity, a football match.
  • (7) But he said he found complaints about the system frivolous, noting that the existence of superdelegates “should not have been a surprise to either” candidate.
  • (8) Legally Blonde Beneath its fluffy and frivolous exterior, Legally Blonde has feminism coming out the proverbial.
  • (9) It would be lamentable if one consequence of the fictitious abortion requests made by the Telegraph were to add fuel to this view, implying that real women's requests for abortion are frivolous or unconsidered.
  • (10) To fuse an object of feminine adornment, of frivolity, with a bullet: that is Khaled's story, the reason behind her image's enduring power.
  • (11) Fringed by horse chestnut, sycamore and maple trees – which conservationists say could succumb in future – the garden is dark and shocking amid the frivolous yellows and pinks of most of Chelsea's other exhibits.
  • (12) In order to comprehend the controversy, it is necessary to take on account the process that has been followed for the concepts formation, by no one manner it can be taken with frivolity and less to under-value it.
  • (13) Naturally enough, the New Snobbery is not restricted to the more frivolous end of our pop culture.
  • (14) The beauty salon is a place of frivolity to where they can briefly escape and put the world to rights before returning home at the end of the day with a fresh perspective and a bouncier perm.
  • (15) On Wednesday Lively described the legal action as absurd and frivolous.
  • (16) Rory Carroll (@rorycarroll72) Zuckerberg channels Aristotle #facebook : 'A lot of the world thinks being connected is frivolous.
  • (17) Critics cited the law – a " distorted " version – and as the online debate gathered momentum, even Godwin himself appeared in the comments section of Greenwald's articles, explaining that his law sought to "discourage frivolous, but not substantive, Nazi analogies and comparisons".
  • (18) Anytime anyone wants to argue for tort reform (usually right wingers who want to protect giant corporations from the little man who is out to get them), or impose more restrictions on our freedom of movement, the case is trotted out as an example of America's addiction to frivolous law suits.
  • (19) The candidate to cosmetic surgery is not, contrary to a too common idea, a frivolous creature trying to become more beautiful.
  • (20) A Zimbabwean hunter who led the expedition that killed Cecil the lion has described charges against him as frivolous.

Paltry


Definition:

  • (superl.) Mean; vile; worthless; despicable; contemptible; pitiful; trifling; as, a paltry excuse; paltry gold.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) She says that the spread of insecure, short-term contracts and part-time work, together with benefits cuts and paltry wage growth, have meant that many people in work are struggling to make ends meet.
  • (2) Let’s leave that discussion to another day, but imagine a combination of the two – sort of Transformers meets Ex Machina – in which a race of giant sexy robots battles it out with another race of really mean giant sexy robots while paltry human beings look on in awe, and teenage boys (and girls) experience incredibly conflicting and disturbing sensual awakenings in the front row of the Beckenham Odeon.
  • (3) Only Orange's pay monthly deals come with Wi-Fi access and they only include a paltry 750MB of Wi-Fi browsing – again through BT Openzone's network of hotspots.
  • (4) In 2010 Bedder 6 paid out total dividends of £1.68m — which saw Clarkson pocket a comparatively paltry £850,000 when his share is calculated and his annual service payment is added in — meaning his income from Bedder 6 has almost tripled year on year.
  • (5) A paltry 50g of brown rice takes up over a third of your daily calorie count.
  • (6) By his own lofty standards Cavendish's return of two stage wins from this year's Tour has been paltry and myriad signs of hitherto unseen fallibility, a team that is clearly not good enough to work in his service and suggestions that his star is on the wane will leave him with much to ponder.
  • (7) If the recession results in interest rates remaining low for years, as many in the City are now predicting, then annuity rates will also remain at paltry levels.
  • (8) Frontex’s annual budget is a paltry €90m (£65m).
  • (9) Russia and China , meanwhile, have contributed a paltry $17.8 million and $1.2 million, respectively.
  • (10) It is the result of rejecting the world of public disengagement and laissez faire that delivered one paltry gold medal in Atlanta just 16 years ago.
  • (11) The value has now decreased slightly and their share probably sits at a paltry $10m.
  • (12) In 1959, US intelligence estimates suggested that the USSR would be in possession of between 1,000 and 1,500 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) compared to America’s paltry 100.
  • (13) Co-operative customer #3 is making do with a paltry state pension, subsidising the cost of groceries with a fortnightly package from the local food bank and unable to afford energy bills.
  • (14) The food industry spends over £1bn a year on marketing in the UK, compared with the paltry £14m spent on the government's anti-obesity campaign.
  • (15) The Italians are earning paltry returns from knocking out white goods in competition with the Chinese and Koreans.
  • (16) A paltry £1,000 for each marginal Labour candidate hardly buys a poster site.
  • (17) The sums are so paltry that the animus seems deliberate.
  • (18) As he itemises the contents of the pawnbroker's shop ("a few old China cups; some modern vases, adorned with paltry paintings of three Spanish cavaliers playing three Spanish guitars; or a party of boors carousing: each boor with one leg painfully elevated in the air by way of expressing his perfect freedom and gaiety …") you sense that Dickens barely knows how to stop.
  • (19) Yet he went on to pretend a paltry array of stimuli will fix the problem: he cannot possibly believe that loose change from the petty cash will arrest the plunge in employment and growth.
  • (20) Growth for the UK in 2012 will be a paltry 0.6%, the IMF says.