A pittance is an insultingly small amount of money, especially when it's meant as payment for work or as compensation for something valuable. When someone receives a pittance for their efforts, they're getting far less than what's fair or deserved.

The word carries a tone of disappointment or indignation. If a talented artist sells a painting for a pittance, she's accepting far less than it's worth. If workers are paid a pittance for dangerous or difficult labor, they're being treated unfairly. The word emphasizes that the amount is wrongly small, almost an insult.

You might hear someone say they worked all day “for a mere pittance,” meaning the payment barely seemed worth the effort. Or a character in a story might refuse to sell a treasured family heirloom for a pittance, no matter how desperately they need money.

Today, it describes any payment so small that it seems to show contempt for the person receiving it. When something costs a pittance or pays a pittance, it's offensively small given the circumstances.