blurb
What is the opposite of blurb? Here is what we hold, with its meaning and related words.
Noun — A short promotional description of a book, film or product, especially the one printed on a cover or posted online.
How to use blurb
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
back-cover blurb
write a blurb
a glowing blurb
Informal in tone but standard in publishing, marketing and journalism.
Etymology
An early twentieth-century American coinage, widely credited to the humorist Gelett Burgess, who used it of the gushing praise printed on book jackets.
Full origin of blurb →Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a blurb and a synopsis?
A blurb is marketing copy that hints at the story and withholds the ending in order to tempt a reader to buy. A synopsis is a full summary, usually written for agents, publishers or students, that reveals the whole plot including how it resolves.
How long should a book blurb be?
Most back-cover and online blurbs run to between one hundred and two hundred words, in two or three short paragraphs. The aim is a hook, a sense of the central conflict, and a reason to keep reading, not a complete account of the plot.
