Definition

Noun: 1. An abnormal swelling or protuberance; a localized enlargement: This refers to a swollen or distended area on the body, often due to fluid accumulation, inflammation, or injury. 2. Lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity; pretentiousness: This is a figurative, literary use describing a swollen, inflated, or overly grand manner of speech, writing, or behavior.

Usage Examples

• Referring to a physical swelling:
  • The puffiness under her eyes was due to lack of sleep.
  • After the allergic reaction, the puffiness in his face took hours to subside.
  • Apply a cold compress to reduce the puffiness around the sprained ankle.
• Referring to stylistic or behavioral pretentiousness (literary):
  • The critic dismissed the novel for its stylistic puffiness and lack of substance.
  • His speech was full of rhetorical puffiness, masking a very simple argument.

Advanced Usage

• "Puffiness of style": A formal phrase used in literary criticism to describe writing that is unnecessarily grand, wordy, or inflated.
  • The editor advised the young writer to avoid puffiness of style and aim for clarity.

Variants and Related Words

• Puffy (adjective):
  • Slightly swollen; distended. (e.g., puffy eyes)
  • (Of speech or writing) inflated; bombastic. (e.g., a puffy piece of journalism)
• Puff (verb/noun): The core word meaning a short burst of air or smoke, or to swell. (e.g., ).

Synonyms

• For physical swelling: Swelling, edema, lump, bulge, distension.
• For pretentiousness: Bombast, grandiosity, pomposity, pretentiousness, inflation.

Antonyms

• For physical swelling: Deflation, shrinkage, tautness.
• For pretentiousness: Modesty, simplicity, plainness, understatement.

Noun

1. lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity
2. an abnormal protuberance or localized enlargement