/ Sign up
English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of puny in English

puny
adjective
uk
/ˈpjuː.ni/ us
/ˈpjuː.ni/
Add to word list Add to word list
small; weak; not effective:
a puny little man
My car only has a puny little engine.
The party's share of the vote rose from a puny 13 percent in the last election to 21 percent this time.
Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples
not physically strong
  • weakShe was too tired and weak to finish the race.
  • feebleMany of the pensioners were so feeble they had to be stretchered onto the ship.
  • punyHe was puny as a child.
  • weedyUK I was just this weedy guy who always had his head in a book.
  • frailA frail, grey-haired lady walked slowly down the street.
See more results »
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Weakness and vulnerability
See more results »
(Definition of puny from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

puny | American Dictionary

puny
adjective [ -er/-est only ]
us
/ˈpju·ni/
Add to word list Add to word list
small and weak, or not effective:
Don’t tell me you’re afraid of that puny little kid.
In 1981, computers were puny compared with today’s machines.
(Definition of puny from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of puny

puny
Demographic decline from disease made any colonisation policy look puny.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
When we consider those things, how puny and fantastic it is to think that this loan can hope to save the country at all.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Compared to the national debt, local authority debt is puny.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
It will be a puny, unimpressive, and ineffective air force.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
To do that in pursuit of savings which, in terms of global expenditure, are puny, shames us.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
That is a puny way of recognising past service.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
It was described in another place as rather a puny instrument.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
In this puny little measure they have decided to reduce the number of doctors overall and to introduce 12 nurses—although people disagree about this number.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
It took several years of proper feeding before that undersized, puny child had straight limbs on which to walk.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Welcome as they are, the measures are puny when placed alongside the problem facing young people leaving school today.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
The most interesting thing is the puny efforts that have been made with regard to food.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
It is a rather flabby and puny affair.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
It carries on its relentless tearing away at the structures that man builds and makes his efforts seem puny.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
I do not think it was a puny defence.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
Today, of course, after the years that have elapsed, it looks a puny and inadequate measure.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
What is the pronunciation of puny?
 

Translations of puny

in Chinese (Traditional)
小的, 弱的, 微不足道的…
See more
in Chinese (Simplified)
小的, 弱的, 微不足道的…
See more
in Spanish
canijo, enclenque, débil…
See more
in Portuguese
franzino, insignificante, débil…
See more
in more languages
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Arabic
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
小さくて弱い, 弱々しい…
See more
zayıf, çelimsiz, ufak tefek…
See more
chétif…
See more
escarransit, escanyolit…
See more
nietig…
See more
lille, svag…
See more
ynklig, liten, klen…
See more
kecil dan lemah…
See more
schwächlich…
See more
skrøpelig, pyset, svakelig…
See more
кволий, слабосилий…
See more
тщедушный, хилый…
See more
سَقيم…
See more
drobný, neduživý…
See more
kecil dan lemah…
See more
เล็กและอ่อนแอ…
See more
yếu đuối…
See more
mizerny, słabowity…
See more
작고 연약한…
See more
gracile, debole…
See more
Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool
 

Browse

punted
punter
punting
punty
puny
pup
pup tent
pupa
pupae

Word of the Day

twang

UK
/twæŋ/
US
/twæŋ/

a quality of the human voice, produced by air passing out through the nose as you speak

About this

Blog

You say ‘to-may-to’ and I say ‘to-mah-to’: UK/US pronunciation

New Words

quadrobics

More new words
has been added to list
To top
Contents
EnglishAmericanExamplesTranslations
English (UK)   Change
English (UK) English (US) Español Português 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Dansk Deutsch Français Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Русский Türkçe Tiếng Việt Svenska Українська 日本語 한국어 ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు বাঙ্গালি मराठी हिंदी
Follow us
Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended
  • Definitions
    Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English
    English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus
    Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English
    Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation
    British and American pronunciations with audio
    English Pronunciation
  • Translation
    Click on the arrows to change the translation direction.
    Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries
    English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Danish English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus
    Word Lists
Contents
My word lists

To add puny to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in
My word lists

Add puny to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

More
Go to your word lists
Tell us about this example sentence: