blurb
[ blurb ]
/ blɜrb /
noun
a brief advertisement or announcement, especially a laudatory one: She wrote a good blurb for her friend's novel.
verb (used with object)
to advertise or praise in the manner of a blurb.
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- blunt duct adenosis,
- blunthead,
- bluntly,
- bluntness,
- blur,
- blurry,
- blurt,
- blurt out,
- blush,
- blush wine
Origin of blurb
An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; allegedly coined by F. G. Burgess
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for blurb
blurb
/ (blɜːb) /
noun
a promotional description, as found on the jackets of books
Word Origin for blurb
C20: coined by Gelett Burgess (1866–1951), US humorist and illustrator
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
blurb
used by U.S. scholar Brander Matthews (1852-1929) in 1906 in "American Character;" popularized 1907 by U.S. humorist Frank Gelett Burgess (1866-1951). Originally mocking excessive praise printed on book jackets.
Gelett Burgess, whose recent little book, "Are You a Bromide?" has been referred to above, then entertained the guests with some characteristic flashes of Burgessian humor. Referring to the word "blurb" on the wrapper of his book he said: "To 'blurb' is to make a sound like a publisher. The blurb was invented by Frank A. Munsey when he wrote on the front of his magazine in red ink 'I consider this number of Munsey's the hottest pie that ever came out of my bakery.' ... A blurb is a check drawn on Fame, and it is seldom honored.["] ["Publishers' Weekly," May 18, 1907]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper