blurb
/blɝ(ː)b/noun, verb
blurb is spelled B-L-U-R-B: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, blurb means “A short description of a book, film, or other work, written and used for promotional purposes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of blurb is blurbs.
How many letters and syllables are in blurb?
| Letters | 5: B-L-U-R-B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,459th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is blurb?
Blurb appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,459th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce blurb?
- /blɝ(ː)b/
Blurb has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-blurb.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-blurb.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of blurb
- blurbs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- blurbing participle, present
- blurbed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does blurb mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A short description of a book, film, or other work, written and used for promotional purposes.
verb
- 1
To write or quote in a blurb.
- 2
To supply with a blurb.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Blurb in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a short description of a book, film, or other work:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | quatrième de couverture |
| German | Klappentext, Einbandtext, Umschlagtext |
| Portuguese | sinopse, resumo, síntese |
| Spanish | sinopsis, resumen, síntesis |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does blurb come from?
Coined by American artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist Gelett Burgess in 1907 on a dust jacket at a trade association dinner. The dust jacket said “YES, this is a “BLURB”!” and featured a (fictitious) “Miss Belinda Blurb” shown calling out, described as “in the act of blurbing”.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).