puffier; puffiest
1
a
: swollen in size : bloated
puffy lips
… Hagrid gazed at him for a moment through his puffy, blackened eyes, apparently taken aback.J. K. Rowling
… who was … blind drunk, her voice slurry and her face puffy.Edna O'Brien
also : chubby
Fatty Hicks, the shrill and puffy son of Nat, flapped his hand at the beautiful stranger … Sinclair Lewis
b
: having a puffed up form or appearance : soft, light, and fluffy
puffy white clouds
a puffy bun
puffy hair
It is very difficult to shake hands when you're wearing ski mittens. They're so puffy and fat it's like shaking hands with giant marshmallows.Ann M. Martin
Not far away is a Georgian bakery where we found long, puffy loaves of wonderfully crisp bread.Jeffrey Steingarten
2
: blowing in puffs : gusty
a strong, puffy wind
3
: characterized by vanity or ostentation : pompous, showy
puffy rhetoric
All of my small, puffy pride at being the skipper of a tiny unit in a great nation victorious over the forces of evil seemed to blow away before the drunken racket of those three thousand men.Louis Auchincloss
puffiness noun
Symptoms include nausea and vomiting, muscle weakness, headache and disorientation, as well as bloating and puffiness in the face and fingers. Susan Gilbert

Examples of puffy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The pies are cooked in a 900°F Stefano Ferrara oven and come out with a puffy crust with charred edges and a delicate center. Rachel Bernhard, Journal Sentinel, 19 Mar. 2024 All three women wore iterations of a long black gown either featuring a plunging neckline like Smith’s, a puffy white train like Roland’s, or a sheer lace detail throughout like Washington’s. Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 15 Mar. 2024 Think pretty florals, soft pastels, swingy and oversized silhouettes, puffy sleeves, and cutout details. Jamie Allison Sanders, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024 Schumer first responded to the comments about her face looking puffy following appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The View earlier this month. Jodi Guglielmi, Rolling Stone, 25 Feb. 2024 The news comes on the heels of Schumer’s response to fan comments that her face appeared puffier than normal. Zoe G Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Feb. 2024 With flowy puffy sleeves along with matching shorts, this set levels up on comfort, combining it with trend-forward style. Rebecca Jones, Southern Living, 19 Feb. 2024 Caffeine targets puffy eyes, glycyrrhetinic acid helps address dullness and sensitivity, and a synthetic peptide blend called Matrixyl 3000 improves firmness. Macaela MacKenzie, Glamour, 17 Feb. 2024 If the weather gods are on your side, the blue skies, puffy white clouds and sun will make your wine country truly dazzling, like a living Van Gogh painting. Ben Davidson, The Mercury News, 26 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'puffy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1594, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of puffy was circa 1594

Dictionary Entries Near puffy

Cite this Entry

“Puffy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/puffy. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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