puny.
Of inferior significance, size, or strength; ineffective, small, weak.
Meaning & usage
Of inferior significance, size, or strength; ineffective, small, weak.
You puny earthlings are no match for Ming the Merciless!
a puny attempt at an apology
(Frequently) ill; poorly, sickly.
Alternative spelling of puisne. Inferior in rank; specifically, of a judge: junior.
Alternative spelling of puisne. Coming later in time; secondary, subsequent.
Alternative spelling of puisne. Not experienced; novice.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pós Proto-Indo-European *-ti Proto-Indo-European *pósti Proto-Italic *posti Old Latin poste Latin post Proto-Indo-European *íh₂ Latin ea Latin posteā Vulgar Latin *postius Old French puis Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁tós Proto-Italic *gnātos Latin gnātus Latin nātus Old French né Old French puisné Middle French puisnébor. English puisne English puny PIE word *pós A respelling of puisne, from Anglo-Norman puisné (“later, more recent; junior; weakly”) [and other forms] and Middle French puisné (“born after (a specified person); younger, youngest; one who is born after (a specified person)”) (modern French puîné (“cadet (born after a sibling); a cadet (someone born after a sibling)”)), from puis (“after; since”) + né (“born”). Puis is derived from Old French pois (“after; since”), from Vulgar Latin *postius (“afterward”), from Latin posteā (“afterwards; hereafter; thereafter; next, then”), from post (“after; since”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pós (“afterwards”)) + ea (“these (things)”); and né from Latin nātus (“born”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”).
An inferior person; a subordinate; also, an insignificant person.
A younger person; a junior.
Alternative spelling of puisne. A person who is not experienced; a beginner, a novice.
Alternative spelling of puisne. A puisne or junior judge.
A new student at a school, university, the Inns of Court, etc.; a junior.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pós Proto-Indo-European *-ti Proto-Indo-European *pósti Proto-Italic *posti Old Latin poste Latin post Proto-Indo-European *íh₂ Latin ea Latin posteā Vulgar Latin *postius Old French puis Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁tós Proto-Italic *gnātos Latin gnātus Latin nātus Old French né Old French puisné Middle French puisnébor. English puisne English puny PIE word *pós A respelling of puisne, from Anglo-Norman puisné (“later, more recent; junior; weakly”) [and other forms] and Middle French puisné (“born after (a specified person); younger, youngest; one who is born after (a specified person)”) (modern French puîné (“cadet (born after a sibling); a cadet (someone born after a sibling)”)), from puis (“after; since”) + né (“born”). Puis is derived from Old French pois (“after; since”), from Vulgar Latin *postius (“afterward”), from Latin posteā (“afterwards; hereafter; thereafter; next, then”), from post (“after; since”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pós (“afterwards”)) + ea (“these (things)”); and né from Latin nātus (“born”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget; to give birth; to produce”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.