puny
Americanadjective
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of less than normal size and strength; weak.
-
unimportant; insignificant; petty or minor.
a puny excuse.
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Obsolete. puisne.
adjective
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having a small physique or weakly constitution
-
paltry; insignificant
Other Word Forms
- punily adverb
- puniness noun
Etymology
Origin of puny
First recorded in 1540–50; spelling variant of puisne
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.
“Who do you think she’s going to believe, lizard? A puny little nothing of a student or a teacher?”
From Literature
Sticking with puny but potent items: Lego unveiled its Smart Play system, which incorporates bricks stuffed with mini computers.
Within five years, the firm was looking after $165 billion compared with the puny $20 billion that its departing investors had left behind them on the way out the door at the bubble-market highs.
Climate change is what philosopher Timothy Morton calls a hyperobject: something that so massively occupies space and time that our puny primate brains have trouble fathoming them.
From Salon
That's a contrast to most stadium concerts, where the message is more like: "Look upon me, puny mortals, and be astonished by my divine talents and somewhat improbable physique."
From BBC
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.
