punchy
Americanadjective
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being or appearing vigorously effective; forceful.
adjective
-
an informal word for punch-drunk
-
informal incisive or forceful
a punchy article
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of punchy
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Isolated finger gestures, sometimes reaching upward, added telling small details to Mr. Morris’s choreographic momentum, which kept a heady pace with the composer’s insistently pounding, punchy sonorities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Then one day, she stumbled across a video of BTS performing Idol, a punchy 2018 hit, and fell for them.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Alejandro Tellez’s contribution came with the punchy “Linda Sonrisa,” that pleads for someone to realize the realities of the mistreatment they’re facing with another lover.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
In plain and punchy prose, he at times rebuked his fellow justices for not showing sufficient deference to the president.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
He was followed by the Spanish-born Quintilian, who wrote the magnificently punchy and pragmatic Institutes of Oratory—looking wistfully back to the master—in the first century ad.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
And yet, “Zootopia 2” arrives as an expansion with a punchier, more focused approach to its mature ideas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025
Herbs: bright, fecund, verdant, elevating our food with both flavor and color, guiding us from heavy comfort foods into a punchier, lighter category of cuisine.
From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2025
Labour's new leader here relishes the public stage and appears determined to have a punchier presence.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2024
There is a choice of a fuel-conscious, non-turbocharged 191-horsepower four-cylinder engine or a punchier 281-horsepower turbo-four available in higher trims.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 18, 2023
One was slower and long-form, the other punchier, for singing after touchdowns.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 13, 2022
“GNX,” one of the rapper’s punchiest, most concise releases, is his fifth to get a nod for album of the year—though he has never taken home the trophy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
“Johnson is able to convey the largeness of human experience through the tiniest, punchiest sentences.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025
In more ways than one, Bairstow is the great survivor of English cricket and there is genuine affection towards him from all areas of the game, even if he is the media's punchiest sparring partner.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2024
And in an unbilled appearance, Letterman’s psychiatrist, Clarice Kestenbaum, delivered one of the night’s punchiest paragraphs.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 23, 2017
She nodded, then hit me with the gut punchiest of all gut punches.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
