Within two short years, he went from being a puny child to a tall young man.
Source: tatoeba (4471288)
Puny
//ˈpjuːni//
Synonyms for "puny" (360 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (72)
Strong matches (108)
Adjective(16 words)
Noun(47 words)
Related words (180)
Noun(55 words)
nugatoryone horseone-horsepalepaltrypaperyparsimoniouspasteboardypatheticpeakedpeakypeanutpeddlingpetitepettifoggingpettypicayunepicayunishpiddlingpiffling
Show 77 more words
pinchedpindlingpint sizedpint-sizedpokypoorpunkpygmyscantscantyscrawnyscrimpscrimpyshatteryshortshrimpyshriveledsicklysissifiedskeletalskimpskimpysleazyslenderslightslimsmallsmall timesmall-beersmall-timesmallishsoftsparesparingspartanstarvationstarvedstarvelingstingystintedstraitenedstuntedsubsistencetabetictabidtackythintinhorntinytriflingtrivialtwo-bittwo-by-fourunconsideredunderdevelopedunderfedundernourishedundersizedungenerousunimportantunnourishingunnutritiousunsoundunsubstantialuselessvainwastedwateredwateryweaklyweazenywispywitheredwizenedwomanishworthlesswraithlike
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Translations
53 translations across 23 languages.
Bulgarian
2 entries- дребен adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- недорасъл adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Catalan
3 entries- desnerit adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- escarransit adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- feble adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Chinese Mandarin
2 entries- 弱小 adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- 微小 adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Czech
3 entries- drobný adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- drobounký adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- malý adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Danish
1 entries- sølle adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Dutch
4 entries- ijdel adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- klein adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- nietig adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- zwak adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Finnish
2 entries- mitätön adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- vähäpätöinen adj (of inferior size — see also small)
French
2 entries- chétif adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- frêle adj (of inferior size — see also small)
German
4 entries- klein adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- kläglich adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- kümmerlich adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- mickrig adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Greek
3 entries- αδύνατος adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- μικροκαμωμένος adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- μικρός adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Irish
2 entries- beag bídeach adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- éidreorach adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Italian
2 entries- gracile adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- sparuto adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Japanese
3 entries- ちっぽけな adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- 弱々しい adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- 虚弱な adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Korean
1 entries- 자그마하다 adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Latin
1 entries- pusillus adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Luxembourgish
1 entries- krappeg adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Māori
3 entries- kaurehe adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- pūkiki adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- rehe adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Norwegian
1 entries- ynkelig adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Polish
1 entries- wątły adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Portuguese
3 entries- fraco adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- franzino adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- pequeno adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Russian
2 entries- кро́хотный adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- кро́шечный adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Spanish
3 entries- flojo adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- gualtrapas adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- tirillas adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Swedish
3 entries- tanig adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- ynklig adj (of inferior size — see also small)
- ynkligt liten adj (of inferior size — see also small)
Sample sentences
20 total sentences available.
Daphnis is short and puny, with no more beard than a woman, whilst his body is as tawny as a wolf's skin. By living, too, among his goats, he has contracted a goatish smell. And, besides, he is a mere goat-herd, so poor that he has not even enough means to keep a dog of his own.
Source: tatoeba (6212436)
He was a puny man.
Source: tatoeba (9751060)
I don't envy your puny human brain.
Source: tatoeba (10300347)
Showing 4 of 20 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.