Synonyms
Examples of puny in a Sentence
I wouldn't mess with him—he makes bodybuilders look puny in comparison.
We laughed at their puny attempt to trick us.
Recent Examples on the Web
As a matter of survival, Ukraine’s army needs many things very quickly, but startups and other civilian manufacturers are often too puny to meet its urgent demands—or, for that matter, to find solutions to the electronic warfare raging at the front.
—
Samanth Subramanian, WIRED, 5 Oct. 2023
But congressional Republicans only ever cut taxes and address spending by trying to slash that puny 13 percent of federal spending to the point of crippling the function of federal agencies.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 5 Oct. 2023
The supermoon is over 31,000 miles closer, and appears 14% larger in diameter and shines 30% brighter than the puny moon.
—Dean Regas, The Enquirer, 24 Aug. 2023
That many of these employees — primarily women of color — take home puny paychecks, while investors line their pockets, is unconscionable.
—Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2023
There was a photo of Daria in the middle of a sea of volcanic ash, kneeling over a puny tree.
—Lara Vapnyar, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023
Others proposed that the dots represented constellations of a much punier scale: molecules, perhaps the biosignatures of the foreign home world.
—Shi En Kim, Scientific American, 3 Aug. 2023
In a financial disclosure filing this month covering much of his post-presidency, Trump said the company had earned a relatively puny $1.2 million in advertising.
—Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 20 July 2023
Scores of wonderful Wall Street Journal readers have filled in where my puny brain couldn’t come up with a decent answer.
—James MacKintosh, WSJ, 13 June 2023
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Samanth Subramanian, WIRED, 5 Oct. 2023
But congressional Republicans only ever cut taxes and address spending by trying to slash that puny 13 percent of federal spending to the point of crippling the function of federal agencies.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 5 Oct. 2023
The supermoon is over 31,000 miles closer, and appears 14% larger in diameter and shines 30% brighter than the puny moon.
—Dean Regas, The Enquirer, 24 Aug. 2023
That many of these employees — primarily women of color — take home puny paychecks, while investors line their pockets, is unconscionable.
—Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2023
There was a photo of Daria in the middle of a sea of volcanic ash, kneeling over a puny tree.
—Lara Vapnyar, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2023
Others proposed that the dots represented constellations of a much punier scale: molecules, perhaps the biosignatures of the foreign home world.
—Shi En Kim, Scientific American, 3 Aug. 2023
In a financial disclosure filing this month covering much of his post-presidency, Trump said the company had earned a relatively puny $1.2 million in advertising.
—Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 20 July 2023
Scores of wonderful Wall Street Journal readers have filled in where my puny brain couldn’t come up with a decent answer.
—James MacKintosh, WSJ, 13 June 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'puny.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Anglo-French puisné younger, weakly, literally, born afterward, from puis afterward + né born
First Known Use
circa 1577, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near puny
Cite this Entry
“Puny.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/puny. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.
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