puny
Americanadjective
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of less than normal size and strength; weak.
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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.
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.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
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 • Dec. 31, 2025
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 • Sep. 12, 2025
Los Angeles had recently passed Chicago to become America’s second city, but it still felt far behind with its puny skyline, suburban sprawl and relative lack of cultural sophistication.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2024
As they neared the town of Easton, they began to pass shopping centers and development houses, little, low one-story ranchers with sprigs of new grass and one or two puny trees.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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.
