punchier; punchiest
1
c
: zesty
It is an elegant dish, although the sauce seems overly polite now. I remember it when the fresh coriander was an intense and punchy flavor.—
Caroline Bates
Caroline Bates2
: dazed, punch-drunk
… I arrived in Paris after a thirteen-hour flight, unwashed, unshaved, punchy from jet lag, discombobulated …—David Berlinski
David BerlinskiExamples of punchy in a Sentence
shrimp in a punchy sauce
She was punchy with fatigue.
Recent Examples on the Web
The venerable Bay Area punk band Green Day also put in a characteristically punchy mini-set meant to mark the Super Bowl’s 60th anniversary.
—Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026
Sketches are a bit punchier and backdrops more elaborate, though not in a way that undermines the Muppets’ scrappy, analog aesthetic.
—Judy Berman, Time, 3 Feb. 2026
From icy shimmer to punchy chartreuse, these nail trends strike the perfect balance between winter polish and early spring energy.
—Jennifer Hussein, InStyle, 31 Jan. 2026
The exception is graphics performance, where high-end graphics cards made by Nvidia and AMD tend to be extremely punchy, based on a combination of our internal data as well as public benchmarks.
—Keumars Afifi-Sabet, Space.com, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for punchy
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Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026
Sketches are a bit punchier and backdrops more elaborate, though not in a way that undermines the Muppets’ scrappy, analog aesthetic.
—Judy Berman, Time, 3 Feb. 2026
From icy shimmer to punchy chartreuse, these nail trends strike the perfect balance between winter polish and early spring energy.
—Jennifer Hussein, InStyle, 31 Jan. 2026
The exception is graphics performance, where high-end graphics cards made by Nvidia and AMD tend to be extremely punchy, based on a combination of our internal data as well as public benchmarks.
—Keumars Afifi-Sabet, Space.com, 30 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for punchy
Cite this Entry
“Punchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/punchy. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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