blurb

[ blurb ]

/ blɜrb /

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See synonyms for: blurb / blurbs on Thesaurus.com

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.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of blurb

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15; allegedly coined by F. G. Burgess

OTHER WORDS FROM blurb

blurbist, noun

Words nearby blurb

blunt, blunthead, bluntly, blur, Blu-ray, blurb, blurry, blurt, blurt out, blush, blusher

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use blurb in a sentence

One of the many enthusiastic blurbs describes it as “gut-wrenchingly funny.”
We need comic novels more than ever. So where are they?|Ron Charles|May 27, 2021|Washington Post
For a novice thriller writer, Abrams plucked blurbs from nine heavy-hitters, a literary baseball starting lineup, including Nora Roberts, Scott Turow, Lee Child and Michael Connelly.
And in her spare time, Stacey Abrams wrote a thriller|Karen Heller|May 6, 2021|Washington Post
I get the sense that we’re looking at a list of magazine blurbs.
Which Food Publication Won the 2020 Holiday Cookie Bake-off?|Eater Staff|December 4, 2020|Eater
In other words, a good answer might well be found in a single passage or paragraph in an otherwise broad topic document, or random blurb page without much focus at all.
Could Google passage indexing be leveraging BERT?|Dawn Anderson|October 29, 2020|Search Engine Land

A blurb could look something like “The Trail Runner XT allows you to comfortably walk 20-25 miles a day as you trek through the beautiful landscape of the Appalachian trail”.
Align your content with customer intent via zero click search|Ron Cierniakoski|October 7, 2020|Search Engine Watch
Even the patron saint of teenage girls, Judy Blume, is featured on the back cover with a blurb for the book.
Time to Grow Up, Lena Dunham|Emily Shire|October 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I first read the book in galleys some months ago; the finished edition carries a blurb from me on the back cover.
Who Was the Real Cato?|David Frum|December 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST
He helped John McMillian and me get our first book contract, for The Radical Reader, and then wrote a generous blurb.
Howard Zinn at 90: Defending the People’s Historian|Timothy Patrick McCarthy|August 27, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Shteyngart sat down with The Daily Beast to discuss the book, the art of the blurb, and, yes, teaching James Franco.
Hipster Novelist Gary Shteyngart on Mentoring James Franco|Gregory Gilderman, The Daily Beast Video|July 23, 2010|DAILY BEAST
He shares his secret formula for writing a good blurb–and his selfish motive for blurbing so frequently.
Hipster Novelist Gary Shteyngart on Mentoring James Franco|Gregory Gilderman, The Daily Beast Video|July 23, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Front matter consisting of a blurb and a list of other publications by the author has been moved to the end of the text.
Storm Over Warlock|Andre Norton
It—it's just the sort of thing we call a 'blurb,' Miss West!
Kenny|Leona Dalrymple
Matson read that blurb in an official press release and laughed cynically.
Assassin|Jesse Franklin Bone
Herman had the wild thought that they were blurb writers whose jobs had gone to their heads.
Freudian Slip|Franklin Abel
Modern Library blurb: "mail complete list of titles" left as is.
Candide|Voltaire

British Dictionary definitions 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

Origin of blurb

OTHER WORDS FROM blurb

Words nearby blurb

Words related to blurb

How to use blurb in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for blurb

Word Origin for blurb