Blurb Meaning
/blɝ(ː)b/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA short description of a book, film, or other work, written and used for promotional purposes.
verbTo write or quote in a blurb.
Sentence Examples
He wrote a short blurb about the movie he had just watched.
The website displayed a small blurb of a blog post.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The back cover of the novel had a short ____ praising the story.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I read the ____ on the back of the book to see if it was interesting.
Word Origin & History
Coined by American artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist Gelett Burgess in 1907 on a dust jacket at a trade association dinner. The dust jacket said “YES, this is a “BLURB”!” and featured a (fictitious) “Miss Belinda Blurb” shown calling out, described as “in the act of blurbing”.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In a few weeks, blurbs would come back; a few, or many, depending on the book. There were certain writers we knew were always good for a blurb: Louis Untermeyer would always come through — poetry, fiction, humor — whatever, he'd send a well‐turned commendation."
— 1978 July 23, William Cole, “The Blurb and I”, in The New York Times:
"When Rene Rodriguez of The Miami Herald blogged about having seen and loved “The Departed” in Toronto in a supposedly private screening last fall, Warner Brothers “scolded me very strongly,” he said, “but they still blurbed a line from my blog in their opening ad.”"
— 2007 July 4, David M. Halbfinger, “Appearing Way Before the Film: The Review”, in New York Times:
"The unseemly business of book blurbing has been source of both humor and concern in the pages of The New Yorker."
— 2012 April 17, Jon Michaud, “Blurb This!”, in The New Yorker:
"Edward R. Murrow and other leading radio personalities blurbed the book, published in 1950 by Oxford University Press, and Siepmann thanked Paul Lazarsfeld and Herta Herzog in his acknowledgments."
— 2015, Peter Simonson, David W. Park, The International History of Communication Study, page 268:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The back cover of the novel had a short ____ praising the story.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I read the ____ on the back of the book to see if it was interesting.