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pittance

pittance

15 7.9
A very small amount of money paid to someone for their work
  • noun
  • /ˈpɪt̬əns/
translation icon : miseria
  • My job provides me only a pittance each month, making it hard to pay my bills.
  • more than a pittance

And that universal basic income will be a pittance.

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Examples

  • The car had been confiscated from a drug dealer and was sold at auction for a pittance.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • A lifetime of drudgery on a pittance?

  • A pittance to protect you from evil.

  • OK, let's hire him for a pittance, which it was, and we'll give him a try.

  • It's so cheap, you can live on a pittance.

  • Other than the house, it paid little more than a pittance, but it kept a roof over their heads.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Tomorrow is the day it will pay its workers their miserable weekly pittance.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • The US spends an exorbitant amount on its military and a pittance on programs that alleviate poverty.

    Blog text (21)
  • The fabric of society has eroded so much that a man like me has to bend the knee to the likes of him, all for a pittance.

  • Now they receive R15,000 a year—a pittance considering the price of museum-quality contemporary art.

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

chump change
vspittance
  • Informal
8 8.2

A very small amount of money that hardly matters next to bigger costs

identifies modest payments that are not enough as regular compensation
measly amount
vspittance
  • Informal
5.1

A very small amount that is not enough

refers to small payments that are inadequate as wages or allowance
chickenfeed
vspittance
  • Informal
7.7

A very small amount of money that is not worth much

focuses on small paid amounts that are insufficient to live on
peanuts
vspittance
  • Informal
3.7

A very small amount of money that is not worth much

applies to low wages or allowances that fail to meet needs
thruppence
vspittance
  • Archaic
9.9

A very small amount of money or something of little value

is used for tiny paid sums that are inadequate as earnings or allowance

Antonyms

453 2.8

A very large amount of money

How Much

fortune
453 2.8
tidy sum
  • Informal
3 3.7
small change
10 2.3
pittance
15 7.9
peanuts
  • Informal
3.7

Surface Forms

pittance singular
pittances plural

Etymology

Pittance comes from an old word pitance for a small gift of food given out of 'piety' or 'pity' to the poor or to monks. So a pittance today means a very small, often unfair, amount of money or pay.