Definition (puffed): exhibiting or expressive of vanity or conceit; pretentious or arrogant
Definition (puffy): characterized by vanity or ostentation
The adjectives puffed (also puffed-up) and puffy start being emitted in 16th-century English. The verb and noun puff are centuries older, dating to Old English and originating from onomatopoeia.
This is in response to Richard Sanders' "Diet of liberal views distasteful" (July 29). Mr. Sanders, your command of adverbs, adjectives and alliteration was impressive and amusing. When I got to the part about the "nefarious nectar of left-wing pragmatism," I almost laughed my coffee across the table. It immediately brought to mind my favorite phrase of over-puffed language—Spiro Agnew's reference to the media as the "nattering nabobs of negativism." I've been a professional writer for over 20 years. One of the basics is, "Never use a 50-cent word where a 10-cent word will do." Or to put it in a way you would appreciate, "Obfuscation eliminates communication."
— J. A. Montgomery, The Spokesman Review (Spokane, Washington), 5 Aug. 2004
"Our industries are doing well—not just well, great," said heritage minister Mélanie Joly in a puffed-up speech in Ottawa Thursday that boasted about Canadians being feted at the Emmy Awards and poets reaching number 13 on the New York Times best-sellers list.
— John Ivison, The National Post, 29 Sept. 2017
He delivered a puffy speech, citing people whose names he could not pronounce, stumbling over John Kennedy's "Ich Bin Ein Berliner" phrase and giving the impression that he and his text had met only moments before.
— Richard Cohen, The Washington Post, 2 June 1987