Crossword Genius

Feeble joke, ultimately unfunny (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

puny

'feeble' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'joke ultimately unfunny' is the wordplay.
'joke' becomes 'pun' (punning is a kind of joking).
'ultimately' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'unfunny' is 'y'.
'pun'+'y'='PUNY'

(Other definitions for puny that I've seen before include "Frail and weedy" , "Feeble, under-sized" , "Small and feeble" , "Slight" , "Paltry" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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