Despite working hard, he only received a derisory amount as payment.

derisory 是由动词 deride（嘲笑）加上形容词后缀 -ory 构成的形容词。deride 来自拉丁语，意思是"嘲笑、讥笑"。derisory 表示"可笑的、微不足道的"，常用来形容数量少得令人发笑或不合理的报酬、金额等。