Searching for information on the meaning of blurb? Look no further and keep reading — here’s our complete guide on blurb.
-
Kevin
-
June 30, 2022
-
Common Questions
Your writing, at its best
Compose bold, clear, mistake-free, writing with Grammarly's AI-powered writing assistant
If you have any experience in marketing, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ve come across the word blurb before, but do you know what it means?
This article explores the term blurb to uncover its definition, origin, and more. So if you’ve ever wondered about “blurb” or how to use it in a sentence — keep reading.
What Is the Definition of Blurb?
According to the Collins Dictionary, a blurb (blɜrb) about a new movie, book, or exhibition is information that’s written to attract people’s interest. In other words, it’s a brief advertisement, announcement, or publicity notice — especially a highly laudatory one.
What Makes a Good Blurb?
If you need to come up with a good blurb, keep these tips in mind:
- Keep it simple. Steer clear of long and convoluted sentences. Instead, try to keep your blurb as simple as possible. Remember, less is always more.
- Short is key. Patience is slowly becoming a lost virtue. With this in mind, it’s important to keep your blurb short. No one has time to read an essay-length description of a book these days. Short is best.
- Get samples. If you’ve never written a blurb before, it’s a good idea to look at as many blurb samples as possible. Check out your local bookstore or library and browse through blurbs for all genres.
- Tell a story. A good story can come from a good blurb. Do your best to write your blurb to make the readers want to know more.
- No spoilers. Whatever you do, don’t give away any spoilers — no matter how tempted you might be to do so.
Sometimes coming up with the right words for a blurb can be more stressful than writing the book itself. But don’t worry — simply take a deep breath, shake off the writer’s block, and stick to the five tips listed above. You got this!
What Is the Origin of Blurb?
Although blurbs have existed for quite some time, the term itself was coined in the 20th century.
Yup, it’s true — in 1907, American humorist and illustrator Gelett Burgess used the word blurb on a book dust jacket at a trade association dinner. It read, “YES, this is a BLURB!” and featured a fictitious girl named “Miss Belinda Blurb” on the cover of his book Are You Bromide.
What Are the Synonyms and Antonyms Blurb?
By now, you likely have a pretty good understanding of what the word blurb means. Can you guess some of our word of the day’s synonyms and antonyms?
Synonyms and antonyms are great tools that can help enrich your overall vocabulary while instilling the meaning of a word.
Synonyms of blurb include:
- Ad
- Advertisement
- Puff
- Spot
- Commendation
- Commerical
- Endorsement
- Message
- Pitch
- Plugola
- Indorsement
- Advert
- Announcement
- Bulletin
- Notice
- Notification
- Brief
Antonyms of blurb include:
- Disagreement
- Demotion
- Discouragement
- Novel
- Story
- Long paragraph
How Can You Use Blurb in a Sentence?
Now that you understand what blurb means, it’s time to put your newfound knowledge to the test — quiz yourself to see how many sentences you can think of using our word of the day. If you need some help to get you going, refer to our example sentences listed below:
“After reading the blurb, I decided to read the book.”
“The blurb was so captivating that I decided to drop everything I was doing to watch the movie.”
“Have you read the official publishers’ blurb for the novel yet?”
“The report sometimes lists a short blurb from other reviews.”
“Let me know if you need some help putting together an interesting blurb for your dating profile!”
“Do you think the blurb I wrote for my new play is interesting?”
“Oh, don’t worry — I read the blurb on the jacket first, so there’s no need to summarize.”
“The short blurb was all I needed to read before realizing I wouldn’t be particularly fond of Suzie’s book.”
“I have to send a blurb — or a short description of a book — to my publisher.”
“If you want to get high sales, your short film needs a good blurb that will manifest interest.”
“More often than not, the blurb is on the back of a book cover.”
“When looking to promote a product, a good publicity blurb is important.”
“Blurbs are typically found on the dust jackets of books.”
“Heck, even my handy-dandy thesaurus has a blurb.”
“Her piece of writing is fiction, so be sure the blurb represents that genre.”
“More often than not, you can find the blurb on the back cover of a novel.”
Summary
The word blurb can be defined as a brief announcement or advertisement. When used as a verb, it means to advertise or praise in the manner of a blurb.
In other words, a blurb is a short promotional piece that typically accompanies a piece of creative work.
The publisher can write a blurb, but more often than not, the author is responsible for this text. A writer may also elect to use a combination of quotes from the work itself, fans, or reviews when creating a blurb.
Sources:
