puny

Weak and undersized

Puny means small and weak, often contemptibly so.

A puny opponent poses little threat.

A puny effort falls far short of what's needed.

The word carries dismissiveness—something puny isn't just small but inadequate: His puny salary barely covered rent.

She gave a puny wave from across the room.

weak

feeble

Weak and ineffective

debilitated · impotent · sapped · enervated · wimpy · strengthless · helpless · anemic · limp · languid

thin

scrawny

Unattractively thin and bony

  • skinnyVery thin, underweight
  • bonyThin, with protruding skeleton
  • gauntLean from deprivation

scraggy · spindly · underfed · malnourished · wasted · emaciated · skeletal · wispy · reedy · slight

insignificant

trivial

Lacking significance or weight

inconsequential · measly · pitiful · pathetic · meager · piddling · worthless · sorry · laughable · contemptible

small

tiny

Extremely small in size

diminutive · runty · stunted · shrimpy · bantam · dwarfed · compact · wee · teeny · itty-bitty

inadequate

insufficient

Below required quantity

scant · sparse · skimpy · limited · wanting · short · bare · minimal · scarce · poor

Categories
Opposites
physical size

punyhuge

Extremely large in size

giant · massive · enormous · large · big

physical strength and robustness

punymighty

Having great power

powerful · strong · sturdy · robust · brawny

significance or impressiveness

punysubstantial

Of notable size or importance

formidable · impressive · considerable · significant · grand

Family

punning, punned, punnet, puniness, punster, punsters, punier, puniest, punner

Familiarity
Top 50,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated G