puffing (up)

present participle of puff (up)

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for puffing (up)
Verb
  • Or rolling up his sleeves to make rice bowls with their daughter.
    Faith Karimi, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2025
  • In the latest offering from her Netflix series, the Duchess of Sussex, 44, signs up not as the expert, but as the learner — the sous chef, the assistant, the one rolling up her sleeves and saying, teach me your ways.
    Erin Hill, People.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • The brand is blowing up for its bold designs, playful colorways, and the distinct versatility of its catalog.
    Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 11 Sep. 2025
  • Surely Putin was in a panic at that point, for had NATO even threatened to take any action—such as blowing up the Kursk bridge and thereby trapping his army in Ukraine—he would have been left with the choice of surrender or all-out intercontinental nuclear war.
    Robert Kagan, The Atlantic, 10 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Both teams are 1-0 and building up playoff aspirations, and the latest Parsons-Daniels matchup is must-see stuff.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The same concern emerges in places like Haiti and Ecuador, as foreign mercenaries and drones are being drafted in at the expense of building up the local armed forces and the national police.
    Alia Brahimi, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • By inserting an extra biochemical cycle into a model plant, the researchers boosted growth, seed yield, and fat production without increasing water demand.
    Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 13 Sep. 2025
  • An increasing number of boys are lonely, isolated and confused, wrestling with the aftermath of the #MeToo movement and the expectations of rigid masculinity, which has been widely characterized as toxic.
    Don Riddell, CNN Money, 13 Sep. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Puffing (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/puffing%20%28up%29. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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