publicity

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   Public attention given to a person, event or product through media coverage.

   Grammar: Uncountable: a lot of publicity, not publicities.

   Patterns

   • publicity for something
   • get publicity

   The scandal brought the company a lot of unwanted publicity.

   The festival has received good publicity in the local paper.

   Some actors avoid publicity and rarely give interviews.

2. 2noununcountablebusiness

   Actions or materials, such as posters and press releases, used to make people aware of something.

   Grammar: Uncountable and often a modifier: publicity campaign.

   Patterns

   • publicity campaign for something
   • do publicity for something

   The publisher launched a publicity campaign for the new novel.

   She works in publicity for a film studio.

   The team printed publicity leaflets for the concert.

Common combinations

bad publicity

The delay caused bad publicity.

generate publicity

The stunt was meant to generate publicity.

publicity campaign

A publicity campaign began in spring.

seek publicity

He never sought publicity.

free publicity

The interview gave the shop free publicity.

publicity stunt

Critics called the protest a publicity stunt.

Synonyms and how they differ

promotion

Promotion is a planned effort to sell or support something, while publicity may happen without planning.

advertising

Advertising is paid and controlled by the seller, but publicity is usually earned from media coverage.

exposure

Exposure suggests being seen by many people, not necessarily being written about.

limelight

Limelight is figurative and refers to being the center of attention.

Opposites

Word family

publicize verb

to make known to the public

publicist noun

a person who manages publicity

public adjective

relating to people in general

publicly adverb

in a way open to everyone

Commonly confused: publicity or advertising?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “publicity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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