Definition

Noun: 1. A young dog: A domestic dog, especially one that is less than one year old. 2. An inexperienced young person: (Informal, often disapproving) A young person who is immature, inexperienced, or overly confident.

Usage and Examples

• Meaning 1 (A young dog):
  • We are going to pick up our new puppy from the breeder next week.
  • The children spent the afternoon playing with the adorable golden retriever puppy.
• Meaning 2 (An inexperienced young person):
  • That arrogant puppy in the sales department thinks he knows everything. (This usage is somewhat dated or literary.)

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• The word puppy inherently conveys youth, small size, and often cuteness or playfulness when referring to dogs.
• When applied to a person (meaning 2), it is typically used in a critical or condescending way to highlight someone's naivety, lack of experience, or unwarranted self-importance. It is not a common compliment.

Variants and Related Words

• Puppy dog: A more affectionate or emphatic term for a puppy.
  • Look at that sweet little puppy dog!
• Puppyhood (noun): The state or time of being a puppy.
  • During his puppyhood, he chewed on everything.
• Puppyish (adjective): Having the qualities of a puppy, such as playfulness or youthful energy.
  • Despite his age, the old dog still had a puppyish enthusiasm for walks.

Synonyms

• For young dog: pup, whelp, doggy.
• For inexperienced person: novice, greenhorn, upstart, whippersnapper (archaic).

Idioms and Common Phrases

• Puppy love: Intense but often short-lived romantic feelings typical of adolescence; a crush.
  • Their relationship was just puppy love, but it felt very real to them at the time.
• (Sick as a) dog: While not containing "puppy," this idiom is related. It means very ill.
  • After eating that seafood, I was sick as a dog.

Noun

1. an inexperienced young person
2. a young dog