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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of puffery
But management also decided against trying to brag about these network-level changes with new status-bar icons or other sorts of customer-experience puffery.
—
Rob Pegoraro,
PC Magazine,
9 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for puffery
Rob Pegoraro,
PC Magazine,
9 Mar. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for puffery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for puffery
Noun
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No matter what the hype, candles, sonic devices, and bracelets don’t keep mosquitoes away.
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Nothing like a little McConaughey hype speech to get the juices flowing for the 4th of July.
Noun
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Newspaper editors are often invited, presumably to curry a little favour and encourage publicity.
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With all of the wedding publicity, Lawrence doubts whether the Watch Hill house offers enough security for the newlyweds.
Noun
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Until now, the company has mostly defended that spending by pointing to improvements in its advertising business.
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Shortly afterwards, the country’s advertising self-regulator opened three proceedings regarding betting offers read aloud by presenters and commentators.
Noun
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Before the tournament began, Haaland, 25, appeared in a Nike advertisement with Tatum, 46.
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Among the company's more notable efforts was a five-second Super Bowl advertisement that was timed to coincide with app notifications sent to millions of users, linking a major media moment directly to customer action.
Cite this Entry
“Puffery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puffery. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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