Word.ws English Dictionary

punches below one's weight

punches below one's weight is the third-person singular simple present indicative of punch below one's weight.

Meaning of punch below one's weight

Verb

punch below one's weight (third-person singular simple present punches below one's weight, present participle punching below one's weight, simple past and past participle punched below one's weight)

  1. (idiomatic) To achieve or perform at a level lower than should be expected based on one's preparation, attributes, rank, or past accomplishments.
    • But the overall effect is flimsy and insubstantial, a gifted writer punching well below his weight.2001 September 29, “For men who should know better”, in The Telegraph, UK, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2013
    Synonyms:
    underachieve

Questions about punches below one's weight

What is punches below one's weight the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Punches below one's weight is the third-person singular simple present indicative of punch below one's weight.

Words near punches below one's weight in the dictionary

  1. puncher
  2. punchers
  3. punches
  4. punches above
  5. punches above one's weight
  6. punches below one's weight
  7. punches down
  8. punches in
  9. punches out
  10. punches someone's lights out
  11. punches someone's ticket

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: punches below one's weight (page history and authors); punch below one's weight (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “punches below one's weight.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/punches_below_one%27s_weight. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.