publicity
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the attention that a person, product, or event gets from newspapers, television, or social media.
the state of being the subject of public attention or notice through media coverage.
Simple“The new movie received a lot of publicity after the lead actor visited our city.”
In context“The scandal generated a wave of negative publicity that the company struggled to manage even with a dedicated crisis team.”
UsageUncountable in this sense.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
the work of telling the public about something to make them interested in it.
the deliberate process or activity of attracting public interest to a person, product, or event.
Simple“They are planning a big publicity campaign to launch the new phone.”
In context“The marketing department allocated a significant portion of the budget to digital publicity, focusing on social media influencers to reach a younger demographic.”
UsageOften used in the context of 'publicity campaign'.
- 03 C1 Advanced
the quality of being open and known to everyone rather than being private.
the quality or condition of being public or open to general observation.
Simple“The lawyer argued for the publicity of the court records so everyone could see the evidence.”
In context“The principle of publicity in legal proceedings ensures that justice is not only done but is seen to be done by the general population.”
UsageUsed in legal or philosophical contexts regarding the 'publicity' of information.
Synonyms
Usage publicity stunt
“Warning shot or publicity stunt - how worried should we be about the OpenAI hack?”
“Grylls was asked during the publicity run for Chosen in the Wild whether his feelings about the baptism had changed.”
From French publicité, From Medieval Latin pūblicitātem, accusative singular of pūblicitās, from Latin pūblicus (“public, general”). Morphologically public + -ity.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.