Antonyms for puny
Grammar : Adj |
Spell : pyoo-nee |
Phonetic Transcription : ˈpyu ni |
Definition of puny
Origin :- 1570s, "inferior in rank" (1540s as a noun, "junior pupil, freshman"), from Middle French puisné (Modern French puîné), from Old French puisne "born later, younger, youngest" (12c., contrasted with aisné "first-born"), from puis nez, from puis "afterward" (from Vulgar Latin *postius, from Latin postea "after this, hereafter," from post "after," see post-, + ea "there") + Old French né "born," from Latin natus, past participle of nasci "be born" (Old Latin gnasci; see genus). Sense of "small, weak, insignificant" first recorded 1590s. Cf. puisne. Related: Puniness.
- adj small, insignificant
- I am ashamed to kill such a puny little dwarf as you seem to be.
- Extract from : « Tanglewood Tales » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Pardon me for inserting these puny details in what I have to say.
- Extract from : « The Old Game » by Samuel G. Blythe
- Even we puny creatures can divine something of their birth and death.
- Extract from : « Mountain Meditations » by L. Lind-af-Hageby
- Beauchene asked her as he looked at the pale, puny child on her arm.
- Extract from : « Fruitfulness » by Emile Zola
- What could man's law—his proud but puny morality—do to injure her?
- Extract from : « The Woman Thou Gavest Me » by Hall Caine
- And he shook his puny fist at the blue vault of heaven—Ajax defying Jupiter.
- Extract from : « Scaramouche » by Rafael Sabatini
- His friends thought he was puny, and they always told him so.
- Extract from : « FreeChildrenStories.com Collection » by Daniel Errico
- It was too puny a contest for him, and he reposed upon the consciousness of his own integrity.
- Extract from : « Patrick Henry » by Moses Coit Tyler
- How puny were the efforts of the five thousand air cruisers!
- Extract from : « Astounding Stories of Super-Science July 1930 » by Various
- Lave the still water and the shallows to the weak and the puny.
- Extract from : « The Fortunes Of Glencore » by Charles James Lever
Synonyms for puny
- diminutive
- feeble
- fragile
- frail
- half-pint
- inconsequential
- inferior
- infirm
- little
- measly
- minor
- niggling
- nothing
- paltry
- peanut
- peewee
- petty
- picayune
- piddling
- pint-sized
- runt
- shrimp
- small time
- small-fry
- stunted
- tiny
- trifling
- trivial
- two-bit
- unconsequential
- underfed
- undersized
- undeveloped
- unsound
- unsubstantial
- weak
- weakly
- wee
- worthless
- zero
- zilch
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019