Meaning & use
publicities
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“publicities” is a form of “publicity”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
noununcountable
Attention that someone or something gets from newspapers, TV, or other media.
Grammar: Usually uncountable, so you say 'much publicity' or 'a lot of publicity', not 'a publicity'.
Patterns
- get publicity
- receive publicity
- attract publicity
The new film received a lot of publicity before it came out.
Her charity got good publicity after the TV interview.
The scandal brought unwanted publicity to the company.
noununcountable
The business of making people notice a product, person, or event.
Grammar: Uncountable when it means the work or activity; you can say 'work in publicity'.
Patterns
- work in publicity
- a publicity campaign
- publicity material
She works in publicity for a record label.
They planned a big publicity campaign for the launch.
The publicity team sent out press releases.
nounpluralrareformal
Separate instances or types of media attention (rare plural).
Grammar: Only used in the plural in technical or formal writing; in normal speech use 'publicity' as uncountable.
Patterns
- various publicities
- different publicities
The report compared the publicities generated by the two events.
Modern publicities often spread faster online than in print.
The study analyzed the publicities surrounding political scandals.
Word forms
| singular | publicity |
|---|
Common combinations
- a lot of publicity
- The product got a lot of publicity on social media.
- bad publicity
- The airline suffered bad publicity after the delays.
- publicity stunt
- The actor's sudden marriage was seen as a publicity stunt.
- publicity campaign
- The government launched a publicity campaign about healthy eating.
- generate publicity
- The protest generated nationwide publicity.
Synonyms and how they differ
- attention
- A more general word for being noticed; 'publicity' specifically means attention from the media or the public.
- promotion
- Focuses on activities to sell something; 'publicity' can be positive or negative and is not always planned.
- coverage
- Means how much a media outlet reports on something; 'publicity' is the attention itself, often with a purpose.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: publicities or publicity?
publicities vs publicity
'Publicity' is the usual uncountable form; 'publicities' is a rare plural. Use 'publicity' in almost all situations.
Practice
The singer's new album got ___ publicity after her appearance on the talk show.
Choose one answer.
'Publicity' is uncountable, so it takes 'a lot of', not 'many' or 'a/an'. 'Many' is for countable nouns, and 'a/an' cannot be used with an uncountable noun here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “publicities”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.