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 WebToo puny to be observed with a backyard telescope, Jupiter’s dusty wreath remained undetected for a long time.—Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 May 2024 The Bay Area and California both added jobs in April, but the gains were puny and sketch a picture of an ominously feeble employment market, a new report shows.—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 17 May 2024 The winds of a Category 5 hurricane on our puny little planet can exceed 150 miles per hour.—Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 10 May 2024 Telling me to get a wheelchair is telling me to spend $60 on an EVC because there is no way that my puny little biceps that have never pushed a manual wheelchair in their life are going to be able to push it around for 12 miles a day for five days.—Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 22 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for puny
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
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