puffy

adjective

ˈpə-fē 

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

also : somewhat fat : 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

ˈpə-fē-nəs 

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

Lululemon On My Level Tote Bag Small 3L The perfect bag to go with your puffer jacket, the Lululemon On My Level Tote Bag is made with a playful puffy design that’s stylish and practical. —Jasmine Gomez, Travel + Leisure, 8 Feb. 2026

Check the puffy right hand on Daniel Chester French’s Lincoln Memorial, or the same feature on Augustus Saint-Gaudens standing Lincoln in Chicago. —Harold Holzer, New York Daily News, 8 Feb. 2026

Jones dressed sportily for the occasion in a white zip-up, puffy athletic jacket with a short crop that showed off a bit of her midriff in between a long, white flowing skirt that gathered high in the front. —Steven J. Horowitz, Variety, 8 Feb. 2026

There’s a comfy arm chair in a corner with a floor lamp, a long light wood table with puffy upholstered chairs and a bench — all kid sized. —Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for puffy

• buffy
• fluffy
• scruffy
• stuffy