noun
Meaning 1
An act of puffing.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
puffery
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈpʌfəɹi/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: P AH1 F ER0 IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Excessive or false public praise.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Superficial or insubstantial material; fluff.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
a flattering commendation (especially when used for promotional purposes)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: flattery
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English puff Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -ārius Old French -ier Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ia Old French -ie Old French -eriebor. Middle English -erie English -ery English puffery From puff + -ery.
Across languages
Translations
14 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- French: esbroufe — act of puffing
- German: Paffen — act of puffing
- German: Aufblasen — act of puffing
- German: Pusten — act of puffing
- German: Blasen — act of puffing
- German: Fortblasen — act of puffing
- German: Schmeichlerei — fulsome public praise
- German: Anpreisung — fulsome public praise
- German: Marktschreierei — fulsome public praise
- German: marktschreierisches Gehabe — fulsome public praise
- German: marktschreierisches Anpreisen — fulsome public praise
- German: Lobhudelei — fulsome public praise
- German: überschwängliches Lob — fulsome public praise
- German: Lobeshymne — fulsome public praise