puff piece

noun

chiefly US, informal + disapproving
: a story, news report, etc., that praises someone or something too much
The story was just another puff piece to help the mayor get reelected.

Examples of puff piece in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Compared to a woman who spends her days toiling to defend some of America’s most underserved, Lee’s a man who wrote a puff piece about some rich, white dude. — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2026 The family’s flashy open houses and intimate dinner parties were featured in a puff piece in Newsday in 1983. — Steve Belanger, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025 Cady rejects her entire Sinclair family at the end of the series, refusing to participate in a puff piece about the family and tossing the heirloom pearls into the sea. — Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 25 June 2025 Critics dismissed it as an obvious move by the president or a political puff piece amid a flurry of executive orders and political maneuvers. — Lee Igel, Forbes.com, 10 Apr. 2025 The Washington Post came under fire Monday for publishing what critics called a fawning puff piece about a Palestinian terror cell in the West Bank. — Yael Halon, Fox News, 8 Aug. 2023

Rhymes for puff piece

See All Rhymes for puff piece

Browse Nearby Words

puff pastry
puff piece
puff (up) with pride
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Puff piece.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/puff%20piece. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All