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

… 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

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

Two of her most talked about looks of the evening included an out-of-this-world look by Thom Browne that appeared to be a colorful, textured pencil dress with mosaic prints and puffy sleeves. —Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2025

Her dark eye circles come from computer vision syndrome, also known as digital eye strain; influencers spend hours editing footage, livestreaming and staring at screens, leading to redness, dryness, blurry vision, dark circles and puffy under-eye bags. —Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025

The Fiona Clare frock featured subtle details, including slightly puffy sleeves and a flowing skirt, a silhouette that Queen Camilla tends to gravitate toward. —Julia Teti, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025

The matching pink jacket tied at the neck and had puffy gathers where the sleeves met the shoulders. —Amanda Uhle august 27, Literary Hub, 27 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1594, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for puffy

• buffy
• fluffy
• scruffy
• stuffy