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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Obviously being the second pick in the draft there’s a ton of expectation and hype to go along with that.
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Congress and the president should accept Altman’s offer, write careful rules around sovereign wealth fund governance, and create an institution that can outlast the current AI hype cycle.
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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People in costumes marched alongside floats with advertisements and extravagantly patriotic decorations.
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In April, authorities say investigators with the California’s Contractors State License Board’s Statewide Investigative Fraud Team discovered online advertisements offering construction services that did not list a contractor license number.
Cite this Entry
“Puffery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puffery. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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