hype
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to stimulate, excite, or agitate (usually followed byup ).
She was hyped up at the thought of owning her own car.
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to create interest in by flamboyant or dramatic methods; promote or publicize showily.
a promoter who knows how to hype a prizefight.
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to intensify (advertising, promotion, or publicity) by ingenious or questionable claims, methods, etc. (usually followed byup ).
noun
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exaggerated publicity; hoopla.
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an ingenious or questionable claim, method, etc., used in advertising, promotion, or publicity to intensify the effect.
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a swindle, deception, or trick.
noun
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Disparaging and Offensive. a person who is addicted to a drug, especially one who uses a hypodermic needle.
noun
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a deception or racket
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intensive or exaggerated publicity or sales promotion
media hype
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the person or thing so publicized
verb
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to market or promote (a product) using exaggerated or intensive publicity
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to falsify or rig (something)
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(in the pop-music business) to buy (copies of a particular record) in such quantity as to increase its ratings in the charts
noun
verb
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to inject oneself with a drug
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(tr) to stimulate artificially or excite
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has hypedperfect 3rd person singular
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have hypedperfect
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are hypingprogressive
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has been hypingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been hypingperfect progressive
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is hypingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am hypingprogressive 1st person singular
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hypessingular 3rd person
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hypingparticiple
Past
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had hypedperfect
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had been hypingperfect progressive
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was hypingprogressive singular
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were hypingprogressive plural
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hypedsimple
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hypedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of hype1
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30, in sense “to trick, swindle,” of uncertain origin; subsequent senses perhaps by reanalysis as a shortening of hyperbole
Origin of hype2
First recorded in 1920–25; shortening of hypodermic; cf. hypo 1
Explanation
As a noun, hype means extravagant claims about a person or product. All the hype about a miraculous new kind of mop might influence you to buy one, but after trying it out you'll realize it's just a mop. Experts speculate that the word hype may be a back formation of hyperbole, or it may come from hyper — old-fashioned slang for a person who swindled someone. As a verb, to hype something is to blatantly promote it. If you hype your favorite restaurant enough, your friends will finally try it. If they all hate it, though, they might never listen to you again!
Vocabulary lists containing hype
The 57 Bus
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Why We Fly
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Chomp
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“But a lot of the hype was on the internet, not in the city of Los Angeles voter rolls.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2026
Some senior figures worried the tool was so powerful it could pose financial security risks, though others have questioned how much of the hype is marketing spin.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
It will take a lot of digging out for people who were taken in by internet hype to understand Pratt’s loss.
From Slate • Jun. 9, 2026
One investor says he’s avoiding hype and focusing on cash flow.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026
The hip-hop music doesn’t hype me up—it just gives me a headache.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
