blurb means A short description of a book, film, or other work, written and used for promotional purposes. It carries an Arena rating of 1615, earned across 18 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, blurb ranks #46 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,106 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #3,943 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #4,114 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
blurb is pronounced /blɝ(ː)b/.
Why “blurb” is a great word
A short promotional description of a creative work, especially one printed on a book’s jacket. Coined in 1907 by American humorist Gelett Burgess on a dust jacket featuring a fictitious 'Miss Belinda Blurb'. Unlike a 'synopsis,' which neutrally summarizes plot, or a 'review,' which offers critical evaluation, a blurb is a piece of designed persuasion, a sales pitch compressed into breathless superlatives. It is the gilded frame around the painting, the strategically elliptical quote, the intimate whisper of promise pressed between cover and reader—a miniature monument to our perpetual hope that something can be both art and commodity.
Etymology
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”.
noun
- A short description of a book, film, or other work, written and used for promotional purposes.
verb
- To write or quote in a blurb.
- To supply with a blurb.e.g.“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:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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