Word
puny
US/ˈpjuni/
UK/pjˈuːni/
Definition
adj. very small, weak, or not strong enough. You use this to describe something that looks or feels tiny compared to what it should be.
adj. small, weak, or lacking in strength or vigor. Often carries a derogatory or dismissive tone when describing physical or mental capacity.
Examples
“The puny little mouse couldn't open the heavy door.”
“The athlete's puny excuse for a workout was barely enough to keep his heart rate up.”
“The defense attorney's puny attempt to discredit the witness was met with immediate skepticism by the jury, who had already seen the overwhelming evidence.”
Examples
simple
“The puny little mouse couldn't open the heavy door.”
contextual
“The athlete's puny excuse for a workout was barely enough to keep his heart rate up.”
complex
“The defense attorney's puny attempt to discredit the witness was met with immediate skepticism by the jury, who had already seen the overwhelming evidence.”
Real-World Examples
“Once mighty, the European car industry is starting to look puny and is hoping surging defence budgets as Europe re-arms can help it flex its industrial muscles once more.” “And yet the newborn fish swimming around their coastal nurseries were pretty puny compared with the ancient great white sharks and adults of other Otodus species.” Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pós Proto-Indo-European *-ti Proto-Indo-European *pós-ti Proto-Italic *posti Latin poste Latin post Proto-Indo-European *íh₂ Latin ea Latin posteā Vulgar Latin *postius Old French puis Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁tós Proto-Italic *gnātos Latin gnātus Latin nātus Old French né Old French puisné Middle French puisnébor. English puisne English puny PIE word *pós A respelling of puisne, from Anglo-Norman puisné (“later, more recent; junior; weakly”) [and other forms] and Middle French puisné (“born after (a specified person); younger, youngest; one who is born after (a specified person)”) (modern French puîné (“cadet (born after a sibling); a cadet (someone born after a sibling)”)), from puis (“after; since”) + né (“born”). Puis is derived from Old French pois (“after; since”), from Vulgar Latin postius (“afterward”), from Latin posteā (“afterwards; hereafter; thereafter; next, then”), from post (“after; since”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European pós (“afterwards”)) + ea (“these (things)”); and né from Latin nātus (“born”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/puny