puffery

[ puhf-uh-ree ]

noun

, plural puff·er·ies.

1. undue or exaggerated praise.
2. publicity, acclaim, etc., that is full of undue or exaggerated praise.

puffery

/ ˈpʌfərɪ /

noun

1. informal.
   exaggerated praise, esp in publicity or advertising

Word History and Origins

Origin of puffery¹

First recorded in 1730–35; puff (in the sense “to praise with exaggeration”) + -ery

Example Sentences

She is one of the few journalists with the cache and guts to call out political hopefuls like Andrew Yang and Matthew McConaughey for vagueness and puffery and still line up an all-star guest for the next week.

From Time

That’s not political puffery, it’s her work ethic and drive.

From Washington Blade

Regular readers may recall that we concluded in that race that he had engaged in a bit of résumé puffery, suggesting he had had a top-secret security clearance for longer than five months.

From Washington Post

He has an aversion to overblown rhetoric and theatrical puffery.

From The Daily Beast

That is a large and fuzzy statement, maybe even approaching puffery.

From The Daily Beast

And yet they say these latter days of ours are distinguished above all else by shameless puffery!

From Project Gutenberg

And yet Spain, in no idle spirit of self-puffery, can boast of this achievement.

From Project Gutenberg

How I hate the glib rattle of his tongue, the mouldiness of his jests and the transparency of his puffery!

From Project Gutenberg

Among my experiences of that nauseous ingredient in theatrical life, puffery, some have been amusing enough.

From Project Gutenberg

It is, as will be seen, in the nature of a crusade against puffery and hysteria.

From Project Gutenberg