fanfare
Americannoun
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fanfares
plural
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a flourish or short air played on trumpets or the like.
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an ostentatious display or flourish.
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publicity or advertising.
noun
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a flourish or short tune played on brass instruments, used as a military signal, at a ceremonial event, etc
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an ostentatious flourish or display
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fanfare
1760–70; < French, expressive word akin to fanfaron fanfaron.
Explanation
Fanfare is a loud, proud burst of something to get attention. If you open up a carpet store with one of those sky-sweeping lights, lots of balloons, and a brass band, you’re doing it with great fanfare. Originally fanfare meant a short burst of music played by trumpeters, usually when someone important entered a room. But these days we describe anything as fanfare that has the same feeling as a burst of trumpets. If you’re a TV executive with a new show you think is going to be a big hit, roll it out with fanfare–—ad campaigns, billboards, celebrity parties!
Vocabulary lists containing fanfare
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A ceremony for the attack’s 25th anniversary was starting, and he had come in quietly, head down, free from the fanfare that usually follows the surging Senate candidate.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
No online orders, and no fanfare or publicity.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
August alone saw two other films of varying quality, “The Last House” and “Don’t Say Good Luck,” all but dumped onto the platform with relatively little to no fanfare.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
In an era when conferences increasingly lack regional ties, the fanfare and excitement of annual battles between old rivals is on the decline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
The first is the genome of the DNA in chromosomes, the genome of the famous human genome project, which proclaimed its success with great fanfare in 2000.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Some blocos are powered by behemoth sound trucks known as electric trios, others by small fanfares.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
But all the fancy regal fanfares in the world on Tuesday might be drowned out by bigger realities.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2023
"Nothing is impossible for you," Putin said in a speech to a group of women who were then invited to step up and accept bouquets from him as trumpet fanfares sounded.
From Reuters ● Mar. 8, 2023
Over a stalwart march beat, with guitar chords like distant fanfares, a prisoner prays for redemption.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2023
Horns blew fanfares as Lionstar and Lady Lyanna pushed out from shore, moving downriver to clear the way for Seaswift.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
