puny
/'pju:ni/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Small and weak: Describes something or someone that is physically underdeveloped, frail, or lacking in size and strength.
- Insignificant or trivial: Describes something that is of little importance, power, or effectiveness; feeble or inadequate.
Examples of Usage
- Describing a person's physique:
- The illness left him looking pale and puny.
- He was a puny child compared to his athletic siblings.
- Describing an argument or effort:
- His puny attempts to lift the box were unsuccessful.
- The company's puny budget could not support such an ambitious project.
- She dismissed his criticism as a puny excuse.
Advanced Usage
- Comparative and Superlative Forms: "punier", "puniest".
- After the famine, the livestock were punier than ever before.
- Of all the proposed solutions, his was the puniest and least convincing.
- Used figuratively to describe impact or scale:
- Our puny contributions felt insignificant next to the massive need.
- The army's puny forces were no match for the invasion.
Variants and Related Words
- Puniness (noun): The state or quality of being puny.
- The puniness of the harvest was a great disappointment to the farmers.
Synonyms
- Feeble: Lacking physical strength, especially as a result of age or illness.
- Weak: Lacking the power to perform physically demanding tasks.
- Undersized: Smaller than the usual or expected size.
- Paltry: Ridiculously or insultingly small; meager.
- Pathetic: Miserably inadequate; of very low quality.
Antonyms
- Strong: Having the power to move heavy weights or perform physically demanding tasks.
- Robust: Strong and healthy; vigorous.
- Sturdy: Strongly and solidly built.
- Substantial: Of considerable importance, size, or worth.
- Powerful: Having great power or strength.
Adjective
- (used especially of persons) of inferior size
- inferior in strength or significance
- a puny physique
- puny excuses