punch above one's weight
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Achieve more than expected given one's resources or status
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
đạt được nhiều hơn dự kiến với nguồn lực hoặc vị thế của mình
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: hit at a level higher than one's own
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The small company is punching above its weight in the market
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “punch above one's weight” mean?
Achieve more than expected given one's resources or status Literally: hit at a level higher than one's own
Is “punch above one's weight” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.