as in hype
information released to the media that is designed to gain public attention or support for a person, business, or cause
the newspaper's local stories are often thinly disguised puffery for area businesses
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of puffery
Vendor puffery may also be legal, but that means the IT customer needs a healthy skepticism of the typically too-good-to-be-true promises vendors make.
—
IEEE Spectrum, 23 Nov. 2025
The defendants have been described by one defense lawyer as being video gamers and recreational gun enthusiasts who were engaged in puffery, nothing else.
—Tresa Baldas, Freep.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Which is why, having failed to stop the coming spending cuts with preening puffery and shameless dishonesty, defenders of taxpayer dollars for public media have pulled out the last tool out of their political toolbox.
—Michael Graham, Boston Herald, 18 July 2025
That moment taught me the value of candor over puffery.
—Marc Stad, TIME, 16 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for puffery
IEEE Spectrum, 23 Nov. 2025
The defendants have been described by one defense lawyer as being video gamers and recreational gun enthusiasts who were engaged in puffery, nothing else.
—Tresa Baldas, Freep.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Which is why, having failed to stop the coming spending cuts with preening puffery and shameless dishonesty, defenders of taxpayer dollars for public media have pulled out the last tool out of their political toolbox.
—Michael Graham, Boston Herald, 18 July 2025
That moment taught me the value of candor over puffery.
—Marc Stad, TIME, 16 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for puffery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puffery
Noun
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The science behind why your brain feels rebooted afterward is finally catching up to the hype.—
Samantha Agate,
Kansas City Star,
30 Apr. 2026
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Mount Rushmore Seeing Mount Rushmore in person lives up to the hype.—
Midwest Living,
Midwest Living,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Surely, the film options and large print runs and book clubs and publicity campaigns will follow!—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Apr. 2026
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The executive director of Child Care Aware of Minnesota, a nonprofit that serves childhood educators, said the publicity will be unflattering.—
Mark Vancleave,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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At first the games were conceived as pure for-profit spectacle—revenue to be made through tickets, views, clicks, and advertising.—
Clara Molot,
Vanity Fair,
30 Apr. 2026
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The proposal would specifically define terms like event contracts while also requiring exchanges to implement safeguards against advertising, illicit finance, and fund segregation.—
Eleanor Mueller,
semafor.com,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Since then, Google and OpenAI have experimented with advertisements in their own chatbots.—
Brian Jay Tang,
The Conversation,
24 Apr. 2026
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The other major limitation included a lack of clear guidelines for advertisements broadcast on the public airwaves.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
22 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Puffery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puffery. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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