- to talk or act insincerely; prevaricate
- to deal with facts, decisions, etc. lightly or carelessly; trifle
- to quibble, as in bargaining
Origin of palterfrequentative formation ; from dialect, dialectal palt, rag, piece of cloth (; from a Low German source): origin, originally uncertain or unknown; perhaps with reference to haggling over cloth prices
intransitive verbpal·tered, pal·ter·ing, pal·ters Archaic
- To talk or act insincerely or misleadingly; equivocate.
- To be capricious; trifle.
- To quibble, especially in bargaining.
Origin of palterOrigin unknown.
(third-person singular simple present palters, present participle paltering, simple past and past participle paltered)
Probably from *palter (â€œrag, trifle, worthless thingâ€), from Middle Low German palter (â€œrag, clothâ€). More at paltry.