Definition of "hype" []

• Excessive publicity and the ensuing commotion: the hype surrounding the murder trial. (noun)
• Exaggerated or extravagant claims made especially in advertising or promotional material: "It is pure hype, a gigantic PR job” ( Saturday Review). (noun)
• An advertising or promotional ploy: "Some restaurant owners in town are cooking up a $75,000 hype to promote New York as 'Restaurant City, U.S.A.'” ( New York). (noun)
• Something deliberately misleading; a deception: "[He] says that there isn't any energy crisis at all, that it's all a hype, to maintain outrageous profits for the oil companies” ( Joel Oppenheimer). (noun)
• To publicize or promote, especially by extravagant, inflated, or misleading claims: hyped the new book by sending its author on a promotional tour. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And the hype is already building for Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, touted as a potential top-three pick in the April draft."
• "Ironically, all the hype is attracting people to Portland who want more than this."
• "And regardless of reviews or non fan going to see it out of curiosity, many will still be filling up the seats to see what the hype is all about."