blurb
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A promotional statement.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
blurbIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈblɝb
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A promotional statement (as found on the dust jackets of books)
“The author got all his friends to write blurbs for his book.”
A short description of a book, film, or other work, written and used for promotional purposes.
verb
transitive
To write or quote in a blurb.
transitive
To supply with a blurb.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A promotional statement (as found on the dust jackets of books)
Used this way, blurb is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“The author got all his friends to write blurbs for his book.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “blurb for …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: blurb for …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use blurb
- “The author got all his friends to write blurbs for his book.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Promotional / short
Other combinations
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Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.