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

Cottonmouth snakes get their name from their instinct to open their mouth in a defensive posture, which reveals a white, puffy lining. —Jack Armstrong, Memphis Commercial Appeal, 3 June 2026

In the photo, the two are riding bikes together, with Hamilton dressed in a white jersey and baseball cap, and Kardashian in a puffy blue windbreaker, shades and a slick back braid. —Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 2 June 2026

Once the cuticle lifts, moisture from the air can enter the hair shaft, causing strands to swell and look puffy or unruly. —Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 30 May 2026

Receiving a diagnosis The couple first noticed something was different about Rylan at 3 years old, when his body seemed abnormally puffy and swollen. —Talia McWright, Twin Cities, 29 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for puffy

• buffy
• fluffy
• scruffy
• stuffy