Word forms: present participle ballyhooing, past tense, past participle ballyhooed
1. uncountable noun [oft aNOUN]
You can use ballyhoo to refer to great excitement or anger about something, especially when you disapprove of it because you think it is unnecessary or exaggerated.
[disapproval]
They announced, amid much ballyhoo, that they had made a breakthrough.
2. verb [usually passive]
If you say that something is ballyhooed, you mean that there is a lot of excitement about it and people are claiming that it is very good. You use this word especially when you think the thing is not as exciting or good as people say.
[disapproval]
The power of red wine to counteract high cholesterol has been ballyhooed in the press. [beVERB-ed]
...the much-ballyhooed new Star Wars movie. [VERB-ed]
More Synonyms of ballyhoo
ballyhoo in British English
(ˌbælɪˈhuː)
noun informal
1.
a noisy, confused, or nonsensical situation or uproar
2.
sensational or blatant advertising or publicity
verbWord forms: -hoos, -hooing or -hooed
3. (transitive) mainly US
to advertise or publicize by sensational or blatant methods
Word origin
C19: of uncertain origin
ballyhoo in American English
(ˈbæliˌhu; for v. also ˌ bæliˈhu)
US
noun
1.
loud talk; noisy uproar
2.
loud, exaggerated, or sensational advertising or propaganda
verb transitive, verb intransitiveWord forms: ˈballyˌhooed or ˈballyˌhooing
3. Informal
to advertise or promote by sensational methods
Derived forms
ballyhooer (ˈballyˌhooer)
noun
Word origin
erroneously assoc. with Ballyhooly, village in Ireland: origin obscure
Synonyms of 'ballyhoo'
fuss, to-do, performance, noise
hype, promotion, build-up, plugging
More Synonyms of ballyhoo
1 (noun)
Definition
unnecessary or exaggerated fuss
(informal)
The announcement was made amongst much ballyhoo.
Synonyms
fuss
I don't know what all the fuss is about.
to-do
Just like him to make such a to-do about it.
performance (informal)
She made a big performance of cooking the dinner.
noise
There was too much noise in the room and he needed peace.
stir
His film has caused a stir in America.
excitement
The audience was in a state of great excitement.
flap (informal)
racket
The racket went on past midnight.
bustle
the hustle and bustle of modern life
furore
an international furore over the plan
babble
commotion
He heard a terrible commotion outside.
rumpus
He had left before the rumpus started.
tumult
Round one ended to a tumult of whistles, screams and shouts.
hubbub
the hubbub over the election
brouhaha
hullabaloo
I was scared by the hullabaloo over my arrival.
hue and cry
He heard a huge hue and cry outside.
hoo-ha
2 (noun)
a big ballyhoo in the press
Synonyms
hype
There was a lot of hype before the film came out.
promotion
The company spent a lot of money on advertising and promotion.
build-up
the build-up for the film
plugging (informal)
propaganda campaign
PR campaign
razzmatazz (slang)
brouhaha
Additional synonyms
in the sense of build-up
Definition
extravagant publicity or praise, esp. as a campaign