adjectivepunchier, punchiest

• 1Having an immediate impact; forceful.

  ‘his style is journalistic, with short punchy sentences’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Whatever it is, if the dancers move like Forsythe's punchy, direct sentences, this will be fantastic.’
  • ‘The sound is a great mono presentation, quite dynamic, with punchy sound effects and good, clear dialogue.’
  • ‘In my resultant article I actually compared Montreal to an afternoon soap opera - a punchy, passionate, sentimental place full of ridiculous arguments and beautiful women.’
  • ‘The protesters use strong, punchy slogans and a distinctive attention-grabbing style on signs and in literature distributed at many of the events.’
  • ‘Indeed, some of the more educated politicians even deliberately emulate the punchy and aggressive godfather style in order to capture the rural ground.’
  • ‘The album feels like it was cut in half - the first five songs are punchy and aggressive, hacking through the meat of their choruses with a carnivorous zeal.’
  • ‘The new model is far better, with a sharper, more stylish nose and an attractive roofline that plunges at the rear to give the car a punchy, powerful appearance.’
  • ‘Palestrina's work is short, punchy and highly effective.’
  • ‘The punchy, vivid language has the immediacy of a news bulletin: these are facts, Hemingway is telling us, and they can't be ignored.’
  • ‘Where short sentences would have been impactful and punchy, McNamee prefers lengthy, brain-numbing lines.’
  • ‘The only time I felt provoked to send him a strong punchy letter was when he flew out on a secret mission to China, in the early 1970s, as Nixon's special messenger.’
  • ‘I enjoyed this punchy, powerful musk peach-and rose-scented white that has the strength of character to cope with testing dishes such as vitello tonnato.’
  • ‘The film is smart, moving and punchy at turns and Braff's Andrew Largeman is delightfully monotone and instantly loveable.’
  • ‘Hollywood hated the movie, but it still got a consolation mention for its punchy sound effects editing.’
  • ‘Brooks' dialogue is punchy and fast, each sentence giving new insight into the characters' often-strange behavior.’
  • ‘Striking a decent balance between pop catchyness and powerful rock dynamics, they're sweet but not syrupy, punchy but not overwrought.’
  • ‘Both of the schoolgirl characters are portrayed convincingly, the dialogue being sharp, punchy and humorous.’
  • ‘Their tender flesh was contrasted with the punchy crushed-peppercorn crust and well-matched with a light citrus sauce and the exquisitely sliced and grilled zucchini.’
  • ‘I've long admired the punchy, humorous letters of G. Wallace.’
  • ‘Chown's delivery is punchy, conversational and well-stocked with reader-friendly analogies keeping galactic concepts at an everyday level.’

  Synonyms

  forceful, incisive, strong, powerful, vigorous, vivacious, zestful, animated, dynamic, enthusiastic, effective, impressive, striking, telling, influential, cogent, compelling, convincing, persuasive, eloquent, dramatic, passionate, graphic, vivid, moving, potent, authoritative, great, forcible, aggressive, irresistible, effectual

  View synonyms

• 2North American informal

  another term for punch-drunk

  More example sentences

  • ‘The mores among boxers are such that fighters seldom admit to others that they are "punchy" or "washed-up."’
  • ‘This increased concussive damage is what leads to a boxer being punchy.’