puffy

American  

[puhf-ee] / ˈpʌf i /

adjective

• puffier,
  comparative
• puffiest
  superlative

1. gusty.

2. short-winded; panting.

3. inflated, distended, or swollen.

4. fat; plump.

5. conceited.

6. bombastic.

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puffy British  

/ ˈpʌfɪ /

adjective

1. short of breath

2. swollen or bloated

   a puffy face

3. pompous or conceited

4. blowing in gusts

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• puffiness
  noun
• puffily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• puffier
  comparative
• puffiest
  superlative

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Etymology

Origin of puffy

First recorded in 1590–1600; puff + -y ¹

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Explanation

Puffy things are swollen or soft, like a big, puffy hairdo or your favorite puffy winter coat that's stuffed full of feathers. Your eyes might be puffy after a really sad movie, and your cat may look puffy when she's hissing at the dog. Big, round clouds are puffy, and so are the white seed heads of dandelions — the puffy balls you can blow on and make a wish. Wind is puffy too, when it blows in little gusts. This is the earliest meaning of puffy, from puff and its Old English root pyffan, "to blow with the mouth."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

puffy puffier puffiest

There are the Vamps, inflated shoes born of the puffy Y2K lineage of skate classics like Osirises or Etnies, taken to theatrical levels of bulbous.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

I lay on my back and stared at a bright blue painted sky, dappled with puffy clouds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

He never stops looking puffy and ridiculous, like a washed-up rocker spending all his royalties on steroids.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

"V1298 Tau shows us that today's super-Earths and sub-Neptunes start out as giant, puffy worlds that contract over time. We're essentially watching the universe's most successful planetary architecture in the making."

From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2026

They’re dressed like it’s below zero and blizzarding out here, with hats and mittens and thick puffy coats, even though it’s only raining.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

She revealed the condition after being swarmed by comments about her face, with fans saying it looked "puffier" during recent TV interviews.

From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2024

The brothers have created a dough that, by their own admission, is perhaps puffier and more developed than the foldable rounds found on the streets of Lebanon and elsewhere.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 5, 2022

I could tell by her crumpled, gray face and even puffier eyes that Mom was spent and heartbroken.

From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2022

I’m allergic to chocolate and can have maybe one chocolate bar before I get even puffier than normal and have to rush to the emergency room.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2019

I think he might have recently had more work done, because his lips are puffier than usual.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

WASP-17b is one of the "puffiest" planets known — and its bloated atmosphere makes it a great target for the James Webb Space Telescope.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 20, 2023

Huffiest & puffiest was still the wind of Fu Szu-nien.

From Time Magazine Archive

His hair is perfectly slicked back and he is sporting the puffiest mustache I have ever seen.

From "Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish" by Pablo Cartaya

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