Wait, wait, wait… You’re looking for puns about puns? Well, I’m not sure what sort of apocalyptic demon you’re trying to summon here, but this is Punpedia, so I guess it’s our duty to help you out. Just know that it can be dangerous if you get too meta with your puns. Don’t go too deep!
If you’ve got any “pun puns” that we don’t, please share them in the comments at the end!
List of Puns About Puns
This list is the current, full collection of homographic and homophonic wordplay on the topic of puns. Each item either describes a direct pun (e.g. fun → pun) or a rule which can describe a set of possible puns. In the latter case, the asterisk (*) character is used to denote one or more letters.
- Pun*: Words that begin with “pun” are your entry-level puns about puns: punishment, punisher, punishingly, punt, punter, punchline, punch, punching, punctuate, punditry, pungent, punk, punctuality, punnet, punter,
- Pen* → Pun*: Words that begin with “pen” are easy ones: punalise (penalise), punalty (penalty), punchant (penchant), puncil, (pencil), pundant (pendant), pundulum (pendulum), punelope (penelope), punetrate (penetrate), punetrating (penetrating), puninsula (peninsula), punicillin (penicillin), punitentiary (penitentiary), puniless (peniless), punnsylvania (pennsylvania), punsioner (pensioner), punsion (pension), puntegon (pentagon), punthouse (penthouse), punultimate (penultimate).
- Pen → Pun: As in “Can I please borrow your blue pun?”
- un* → pun*: Some very easy/cheap/corny puns can be made by replacing the prefix “un” with “pun”. There are thousands of words in English that begin with “un” because we use “un” as a prefix to negate a word (e.g. unimportant, uninformed, unsuccessfully, unwrap). So we’ll list a few examples here, and you can check out this list of words starting with “un” to help you create your own. Okay, on to the examples: punstoppable, punderstanding, punemployment, punfortunately, pundertaking, pundoubtably, pundergraduate, puncomfortable, punprecedented, punfamiliar, punlimited, pundertaking, punpredictable, punderstatement, punequivocal, punconstitutional, punquestionably.
- *pun*: Words which have “pun” in them are easy puns about puns: accupuncture, compunction, counterpunch, expunction, cyberpunk, expunge, homespun, impunity (homographicly), spunky.
- *bun*: Words which have “bun” in them are easy puns about puns: pundle (bundle), pungalow (bungalow), punkmates (bunkmates), punker (bunker), punghole (bunghole), apundance (abundance), apundantly (abundandly), rampunctious (rambunctious).
- Fun* → Pun*: Som words starting with “fun” tend to work all right as corny puns (the most famous being “punny”): punny (funny), pundamentally (fundamentally), pundamentalist (fundamentalist), punctionality (functionality), pundraising (fundraising).
- Or the gravy → Orthography: As in “Would you like tomato sauce orthography?”
- Or the graphic → Orthographic: As in “This graphic, orthographic by the other artist?” Orthography is the study of spelling and how letters combine to represent sounds and form words.
- Phoney/Phony → Homophony: As in “Your puns aren’t genuine, they’re homophony.”
As you can see our list is quite short at the moment! If you’ve got any puns about puns to donate, please post them in the comments!
Pun-Related Words
Need more puns than we’ve got? How about trying your hand at inventing some! Here are a bunch words that are related to the idea of wordplay to help you come up with some original puns. Please share your creations in the comments! 🙂
equivoque, paronomasia, paranomasy, repartee, malapropism, malaprop, rhetorical device, neologism, misspelling, alliteration, onomatopeia, idiomatic, rhetoric, word play, wordplay, joke, pun, puns, punning, punster, punner, portmanteau, wombination, cliche, homophone, homograph, rhyme, metonym, metonymy, polysemic, polysemes, pronunciation, mispronunciation, phonemes, word sense, ambiguous, homonym, heteronym, syllable, orthography, polyptoton, humor, humour, assonance, hyperbation, paragram, witty, wit, metalepsis, antiphrasis, ambage, hypallage, ideophone, allusion, agnomination, idiom, metaphoric, double entendre, speech error, badinage, banter, solecism
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The thing about puns on puns is it really is a play on words that you either get, or you give. These puns are nothing more than witty banter, but in this case it is always better to be the giver than the receiver. See if you can wrap your head around these 63 puns about puns before the joke is literally on you. Then you can continue with these pokemon puns.
Best Puns About Puns
1. Anyone who is unable to make dirty p*u*n*s has clearly lost all of their crud ability.
2. I bet that you were not aware of the fact that p*u*n*s are the highest form of literature.
3. Speaking of p*u*n*s, I think have mood poisoning. Must be something that I hate.
4. I don’t mind if smiles come at my expense after telling my p*u*n*s, that’s a small price to pay.
5. The Buddhist asked the hot dog vendor to make him one with everything.
6. I bet that you didn’t know that p*u*n*s are a form of humor spoken with words.
7. P*u*n*s are nothing more than the droppings of some soaring wits.
8. To be hung is simply too good for a man who makes too many p*u*n*s; he should actually be drawn and quoted.
9. The pun is considered to be the lowest form of humor, that is unless you thought of it yourself.
10. Make sure that you always say “no pun intended”, in order to draw in attention to that intended pun.
11. A pun is nothing more than a short quip followed by a long groan.
12. The lurking pun is probably the worst pun because the offender has been waiting to spring it on you.
13. A theatrical performance on p*u*n*s is really just a play on words.
14. I’m willing to bet that you did not know that a good pun is its own re-word.
15. Very hard to explain p*u*n*s to those kleptomaniacs because they keep taking them literally.
16. When the pun is considered to be the lowest form of wit, then it’s the foundation of wit too.
17. P*u*n*s are like the gag hand-buzzers of our conversation because it hurts just a little bit, but everyone still gets a good laugh.
18. Those p*u*n*s about p*u*n*s were certainly getting bigger, then it hit me.
19. I tried reading a book about gravity p*u*n*s but it was really impossible to put down.
20. That guy who is always telling p*u*n*s had his left side cut off, now he is all right.
21. Just in case you forget about how to use boomerang p*u*n*s, wait a second because it will come back to you.
22. P*u*n*s are not only the lowest form of wit, they really are the lowest form of human behavior.
23. A long time ago I used to be good at word play, but that was once a pun a time.
24. Don’t have to be so pessimistic about p*u*n*s, it will never work anyway.
25. Tequila might not fix your addiction to p*u*n*s, but it is worth a shot.
26. When you trip over that pun in your speaking, it really isn’t so bad. If you intentionally jump on one, then it is a true offense.
27. I’m known as an incorrigible p*u*n*ster, so please do not incorrige me.
28. A pun is like music, two strings of thought will be tangled into one acoustic knot.
29. Those who dislike p*u*n*s the most are those who are least able to utter them.
30. If you want to know the goodness of a pun, it’s in direct ratio of its intolerability.
31. Bet you were not aware of the fact that groaning and telling p*u*n*s are brothers.
32. Most people do not get p*u*n*s, but they think that they are funny.
33. P*u*n*s about stairs should never be trusted because they are always up to something.
34. You could not see a good cow pun it if was actually steering you in your face.
35. When that doctor promises to tell good maternity p*u*n*s, he delivers.
36. The only people who really hate p*u*n*s are those that are laughtose intolerant!
37. That pun the civics teacher told will go down in history.
38. Those p*u*n*s about floating never seem to go down to well.
39. Bet you didn’t know that skeleton p*u*n*s are rib-tickling.
40. If your friends try to annoy you with bird p*u*n*s, remember that toucan play that game.
41. The biggest difference between a good pun and a great one, clause and effect.
42. So my doctor says my obsession with p*u*n*s is just a phrase I’m going through.
43. Cleverness and funniness are two notable factors for rating p*u*n*s, the third has groan in significance.
44. Puncakes should always be served syruptitiously.
45. Wonder if you knew that a pun that is spun with good yarn is fabricated.
46. Health-related p*u*n*s are not funny, especially if you are suffering from irony deficiency.
47. That book about p*u*n*s was simply two meaningful.
48. No wonder forklift operators hate p*u*n*s, they find them unpalletable.
49. That man’s igneous p*u*n*s were found to be written in stone.
50. P*u*n*s that joke about monorails always make decent one-liners.
51. The bakery that was serving p*u*n*s all day decided to name their sandwich the punini.
52. The couple had to file for divorce because the husband loved a good play on words but his wife couldn’t take the pun-ishment.
53. When a joke is owned like you own land, good p*u*n*s would simply go undeeded.
54. That grammarian was always on time, in fact, you could say he was punctual.
55. She took it a-pun herself to find a good pun.
56. P*u*n*s seam to be tailored for tailors because they have them in stitches.
57. Wonder if anyone realized that if you go seven days without a pun it equals one weak.
58. Is there anyway to tell if p*u*n*s are for kids or for groan-ups?
59. The pun is the worst vice, and there is no vice versa.
60. You will always find thirsty joke tellers waiting in the punch line.
61. The only subject you can not make a pun about is the king, because the king isn’t a subject.
62. The pun is very pun-ctual. He is never late for work or appointments, even just one second.
63. The pun daughter wants to become an acu-pun-cturist when she grows up.
These 63 goofy puns on puns are only offensive if you get the joke, otherwise, you are going to be scratching your head wondering why they keep sailing over your head.
Want more funny things? Read our most recent post: Funny Puns, Bad Puns: Different Possible Meanings From The Same Word or these great rock puns.
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Defenition of the word punitive
- inflicting punishment; «punitive justice»; «punitive damages»
- inflicting punishment
Synonyms for the word punitive
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- castigatory
- corrective
- disciplinary
- in reprisal
- penal
- penalizing
- punitory
- retaliatory
Similar words in the punitive
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- correctional
- penal
- penitentiary
- punitive
- relatiative
- retaliatory
- retributive
- retributory
- vindicatory
Antonyms for the word punitive
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- rehabilitative
See other words
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- What is pugilistic
- The definition of puero
- The interpretation of the word residue
- What is meant by reservoir
- The lexical meaning pseudonymo
- The dictionary meaning of the word reputation
- The grammatical meaning of the word proxime
- Meaning of the word repudio
- Literal and figurative meaning of the word provisionalmente
- The origin of the word pupa
- Synonym for the word pupilla
- Antonyms for the word purismo
- Homonyms for the word restante
- Hyponyms for the word restaurante
- Holonyms for the word restaurar
- Hypernyms for the word pustula
- Proverbs and sayings for the word restituer
- Translation of the word in other languages putative
These jokes have definitely groan on us!
Puns are some of the best—and also worst—jokes on the planet. You can make a pun about anything: There are cat puns, egg puns, cheese puns, coffee puns, and many, many other types of puns. But while all puns are an achievement in word-smithery to some degree, one genre of pun stands out above the rest as the most advanced. That genre is puns about puns.
Sure, you might think it’d be easy to make a pun about a pun. Really, all you need to do is replace the prefix un- with pun- and you’re good to go. But we promise, if you execute one of these puns about puns with the perfect timing, you’ll be the envy of all your cheesy joke-making friends. Ahead, find the best puns about puns that are pun-believably hilarious.
1. How would you describe a pun about a pun?
They’re pun-ishingly bad!
2. Why do thieves have a hard time understanding puns?
Because they take things literally!
3. Do you have something against puns?
No, I’m not homophonic!
4. What did the pun mom say to the new pun dad?
We have a pun in the oven!
5. What happened when the pun misbehaved in school?
He was pun-alized with detention!
6. What’s a pun’s favorite movie?
It’s a Punderful Life!
7. Have you ever tried to write your own puns?
It’s a fairly difficult pun-dertaking!
8. What type of apartment does a pun live in?
The pun-thouse!
9. Why did the two puns go to camp together?
They wanted to be pun-kmates!
10. What a pun’s dream job?
To be an acu-pun-cturist!
11. What did the pun say to his annoying colleague?
You’re being pun-reasonable right now!
12. Why did the pun fail his English class?
He didn’t use proper pun-ctuation!
13. Why was the pun a bad comedian?
He never got the pun-chline right!
14. What’s a pun’s favorite love song?
«My Punny Valentine!»
15. What’s a pun’s best trait?
His pun-ctuality!
16. How were these puns about puns?
They were pun-questionably pun-fortunate!
17. Did you expect to laugh at them?
No, but they’ve groan on me!
Puns are often used in texts for humour, but can also make you think differently about a subject if the meaning is changed in the text.
Pun definition
A pun is a play on words or a joke using homophones (words with the same pronunciation but different meanings) or homographs (words with the same spelling but different meanings), with the pun centering on a word with more than one meaning or on two words that sound alike. Let’s start to explore some quick examples of puns to get you more confident when trying to spot them.
Types of word puns
We will now take a look at three different types of puns. These are:
- Homophonic puns
- Homographic puns
- Compound puns
Homophonic puns
Homophonic puns rely on words that sound the same (or very similar) but have different meanings and spellings (these are called homophones).
Because homophones sound the same but are spelt differently, the humour from homophonic puns is used more often in spoken texts, as the pun is more effective when it is spoken rather than when it is read.
Yesterday, I bet the butcher that she couldn’t reach the meat on the top shelf. She refused to take my bet since the steaks were too high.
Homographic puns
Homographic puns (also known as heteronymic puns) use words that are spelt the same but have different meanings.
Unlike homophonic puns, homographic puns are better understood when read. Because of this, homographic puns can be found in prose writing as well as plays and humorous writing. They are also used to show the multiple meanings of something, rather than writers just using them for humour.
Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flies like a banana.
Here, the homographic pun plays on the word «flies» which is spelled the same but has multiple meanings. The first meaning is referring to flight but the second meaning is referring to a fly, which is an insect.
Compound puns
Compound puns are probably the easiest to understand — they are simply a sentence that contains more than one pun. This can be two homographic puns, two homophonic puns, or a mixture of both.
They sometimes end up having more than two meanings, as each pun has its own multiple meanings; when they are combined they have lots of meanings.
Don’t scam in the jungle; cheetahs are always spotted.
Now that we’ve had a look at some different types of puns let’s think about some common examples.
Pun examples
Fig. 1 — Always save your work!
List of puns
Now that you have a good understanding of what a pun is and the different types of puns, let’s have a look at some examples of puns to help you get more confident identifying them in a text.
Here are some examples of homophonic puns:
No matter how much you push the envelope, it will still be stationary.
The word ‘stationary’ can refer to something not moving but can also be confused with stationery, which refers to writing or office materials.
Reading while sunbathing makes you well-red.
‘Well-red’ could be confused with ‘well read’ as they sound the same. So the sentence has the double meaning of someone being able to read a lot but also becoming sunburnt.
Here are some homographic puns! Remember, homographic puns are spelled out the same but still have multiple meanings.
Always trust a glue salesman, they tend to stick to their word.
‘Stick’ has a double meaning. It could be talking about a glue salesman always being true to their word, or saying that they literally stick to it, as they sell glue.
The tallest building in town is the library — it has thousands of stories.
The pun in this sentence plays on the word ‘stories’ which can mean floors in a building or the narrative of a text.
A boiled egg every morning is hard to beat.
The word ‘beat’ in this sentence could mean whisking the egg, or saying that there isn’t anything better than a boiled egg every morning.
Finally, take a look at this example of a compound pun:
A hundred hares have escaped, the police are combing the place.
This sentence uses a compound pun! The first word (hares) can refer to the animal or to the hair on your head. Combing (the second word) can mean searching or could be talking about using a comb. Here we have both a homophonic pun (‘hare’ and ‘hair’) as well as a homographic pun (‘combing’).
Fig. 2 — Seas the chance to study with StudySmarter.
Puns in literature
Now that you’ve had a look at some puns, let’s consider why a writer might use puns and what effects they can have.
Puns are used quite often in Literature and are more common in plays than prose. We are going to look at two examples from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet , as well as a pun used in Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations .
Ask for me tomorrow, you shall find me a grave man (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1597)
Mercutio speaks this homographic pun before his death. The word ‘grave’ has multiple meanings. It could mean that Mercutio is sad / serious about the situation between Romeo and Tybalt (who are feuding), or it could be Shakespeare hinting at Mercutio’s imminent death.
Being but heavy I will bear the light. Give me a torch. I don’t want to dance. I feel sad, so let me be the one who carries the light (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, 1597)
The compound pun here shows how puns can give multiple meanings to a line. Heavy could mean sadness, but also might be referring to the light itself being heavy. The light also has a double meaning. It could be talking about literal light or ‘light’ feelings.
This pun helps us understand Romeo’s feelings in this part of the play, and is a great example of the way puns can help a writer to create double meanings rather than just using them for humor.
They failed to point the conversation to me, every now and then, and stick the point into me. (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1867)
Here is an example of a homographic pun in prose writing (rather than a play). In Dickens’ novel, the point can mean two different things.
- Pointing something out (to do with the main aspect of a conversation);
- Be the literal definition of the point (the sharp end) of an object.
Now you have a much greater understanding of puns, their types, and their uses. You will soon have a chance to test your knowledge, so pay attention to these key takeaways …
Pun — Key takeaways
- Puns can be used to create humour in a text, but can also be used to give multiple meanings.
- Puns are a type of wordplay, using words that have more than one meaning to create humour and double meaning.
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There are three common types of a pun: homophonic pun, homographic pun, and compound pun.
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Puns can often be found in plays — and you may find lots of them when studying Shakespeare.
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They can also be used in other types of literature, such as prose.