adjective
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short of breath
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swollen or bloated
a puffy face
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pompous or conceited
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blowing in gusts
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of puffy
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s a fitting way to conclude an experience that’s like being slowly asphyxiated by puffy clouds of baby powder.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 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
Sunday was the test that all championship teams must pass, and the Rams did so with frozen hands and puffy faces and a will that wailed.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 19, 2026
While the former was delicate and thin, the latter was a thick, puffy flatbread baked in a tandoor.
From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025
The letters are big and puffy and white, and they remind me of squished marshmallows.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
