puny
Small and weak.
puny in a sentence
- Next to the giant wrestler, the puny robber didn't stand a chance.
- The puny sapling looked tiny and weak beside the mighty old oak.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to puny?
- Ahuge
- Bmighty
- Cweak
- Dstrong
Show the answer
C: weak. The other three mean the opposite of puny.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to puny?
- Astrong
- Bweak
- Cscrawny
- Dtiny
Show the answer
A: strong. The other three mean nearly the same as puny.
Words that mean something similar
weak, tiny, scrawny
Words that mean the opposite
strong, mighty, huge
More words about size & amount
- robust: Strong, healthy and unlikely to break.
- scanty: Too small in amount, or only just enough.
- scarce: Hard to find because there is very little of it.
- significant: Big or important enough to be worth noticing.
- sparse: Spread out thinly, with only a small amount in each place.
- stupendous: Amazingly large or impressive.
- substantial: Large enough to matter.
- sufficient: As much as is needed; enough.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test