different between puny vs dinky

English

Etymology

From Middle French puisné. See puisne.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pju?ni/
• Rhymes: -u?ni

Adjective

puny (comparative punier, superlative puniest)

1. Of inferior size, strength or significance; small, weak, ineffective.
   • Breezes laugh to scorn our puny speed.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:scrawny

Translations

Noun

puny (plural punies)

1. (obsolete, Oxford University slang) A new pupil at a school etc.; a junior student.
2. (obsolete) A younger person.
   • 1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State and the Profane State

     who had rather others should make a ladder of his dead corpse to scale a city by it, than a bridge of him whilst alive for his punies to give him the go-by
3. (obsolete) A beginner, a novice.
4. (archaic) An inferior person; a subordinate.

Synonyms

• (new pupil): fresher, freshman, new bug, novi (Tonbridge School), shadow (Westminster School)
• (beginner): newb, rookie, tenderfoot; see also Thesaurus:beginner
• (subordinate): junior, underling, vassal

See also

• punny – relating to a pun

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Occitan, from Latin pugnus, from Proto-Indo-European *pu?nos, *pu?nos, from *pew?-, *peu?- (“prick, punch”).

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?pu?/

Noun

puny m (plural punys)

1. fist

Related terms

• punyal
• punyeta

Further reading

• “puny” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “puny” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “puny” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “puny” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d??ki/
• Rhymes: -??ki

Etymology 1

1780-90; compare Scots dink (“neatly dressed, trim”) (of obscure origin); sense shift perhaps: trim > dainty > small > insignificant; +? -y.

Adjective

dinky (comparative dinkier, superlative dinkiest)

1. (informal, Britain) Tiny and cute; small and attractive.
   • 1915, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of the Island, ch. 11

     How do you like my hat? That one you had on in church yesterday was real dinky.
2. (informal, US) Tiny and insignificant; small and undesirable.

   They stayed in a dinky hotel room, but they had a great trip.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:tiny

Translations

Etymology 2

cf. DINK

Noun

dinky (plural dinkies)

1. A person in a relationship with double income and no kids

Anagrams

• kindy