hype

¹ American  

[hahyp] / haɪp /

verb (used with object)

hyped, hyping

1. to stimulate, excite, or agitate (usually followed byup ).

   She was hyped up at the thought of owning her own car.

2. to create interest in by flamboyant or dramatic methods; promote or publicize showily.

   a promoter who knows how to hype a prizefight.

3. to intensify (advertising, promotion, or publicity) by ingenious or questionable claims, methods, etc. (usually followed byup ).

4. to trick; gull.

---

noun

1. exaggerated publicity; hoopla.

2. an ingenious or questionable claim, method, etc., used in advertising, promotion, or publicity to intensify the effect.

3. a swindle, deception, or trick.

hype ² American  

[hahyp] / haɪp /

noun

Slang.

1. a hypodermic needle.

2. Disparaging and Offensive. a person who is addicted to a drug, especially one who uses a hypodermic needle.

---

hype ¹ British  

/ haɪp /

noun

1. a deception or racket

2. intensive or exaggerated publicity or sales promotion

   media hype

3. the person or thing so publicized

---

verb

1. to market or promote (a product) using exaggerated or intensive publicity

2. to falsify or rig (something)

3. (in the pop-music business) to buy (copies of a particular record) in such quantity as to increase its ratings in the charts

hype ² British  

/ haɪp /

noun

1. a hypodermic needle or injection

---

verb

1. to inject oneself with a drug

2. (tr) to stimulate artificially or excite

Other Word Forms

• hyper noun
• hyping noun

Etymology

Origin of hype¹

An Americanism dating back to 1820–30, in sense “to trick, swindle,” of uncertain origin; subsequent senses perhaps by reanalysis as a shortening of hyperbole

Origin of hype²

First recorded in 1920–25; shortening of hypodermic; hypo ¹

Example Sentences

When it comes to peptide injections generally, “the gap between the hype and the evidence is staggering,” Lucy McBride, a primary care doctor, recently wrote in her newsletter Are You Okay?

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

Unity looked set to be a pandemic-era hit on the back of exploding hype for the “metaverse,” but it was unable to sustain this momentum.

From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026

Read on: This fund jumped 1,200% on Anthropic and SpaceX hype.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026

At Dodger Stadium, the threepeat hype video was a movie trailer with this tag line: “Great sequels build legendary trilogies.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

What certainly went on the Harlem and Roxbury wires was that Detroit Red was going crazy in stir, or else he was trying some hype to shake up the warden’s office.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Related Words

• advertise
• announce
• boost
• broadcast
• pitch
• promote
• promulgate
• tout
• trumpet