Meanings
plural publicities
- uncountableusuallyAdvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something.
A gay man accused of disorderly conduct for posting publicity for a Boston gay event was found not guilty in Cambridge District Court on July 22.
1979 August 11, “Man Found Not Guilty”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 4, page 2 - uncountableusuallyPublic interest attracted in this way.
Any publicity, runs the axiom, is good publicity.
1963 February, “Nobody runs this railway, mate”, in Modern Railways, page 73 - uncountableusuallyThe quality of being public, not private.
1 more example
Amelia's gentle eyes, too, had been fixed anxiously on the pair, whose conduct had so chafed the jealous General; but when Rebecca entered her box, she flew to her friend with an affectionate rapture which showed itself, in spite of the publicity of the place; for she embraced her dearest friend in the presence of the whole house, at least in full view of the General's glass, now brought to bear upon the Osborne party.
1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe condition of being the object of public attention.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna message issued in behalf of some product or cause or idea or person or institution
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpūblicus“public, general”
- Medieval Latinpūblicitātem
- Frenchpublicité
- Englishpublicity
From French publicité, From Medieval Latin pūblicitātem, accusative singular of pūblicitās, from Latin pūblicus (“public, general”). Morphologically public + -ity.
More words from French, Medieval Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian реклама, публичност
- реклама (reklama)advertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- публичност (publičnost)the condition of being the object of public attention
- гласност (glasnost)the condition of being the object of public attention
Catalan publicitat, publicitat
- publicitatadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- publicitatpublic interest attracted in this way
Chinese Mandarin 宣傳 /宣传
- 宣傳 /宣传 (xuānchuán)advertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Dutch publiciteit, publiciteit
- publiciteitadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- publiciteitpublic interest attracted in this way
Esperanto reklamo
- reklamoadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Finnish mainonta, julkisuus
- mainontaadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- julkisuuspublic interest attracted in this way
- julkisuusthe condition of being the object of public attention
French publicité
- publicitéadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
German Werbung
- Werbungadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Greek διαφήμιση, δημοσιότητα
- διαφήμιση (diafímisi)advertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- δημοσιότητα (dimosiótita)public interest attracted in this way
- δημοσιότητα (dimosiótita)the condition of being the object of public attention
Hindi प्रचार
- प्रचार (pracār)advertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Irish bolscaireacht
- bolscaireachtadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Italian pubblicità
- pubblicitàadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Japanese 宣伝, 広報
- 宣伝 (senden)advertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- 広報 (kōhō)advertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Malay publisiti, pengiklanan
- publisitiadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- pengiklananadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- serantaadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- publisitipublic interest attracted in this way
- publisitithe condition of being the object of public attention
Norwegian Bokmål publisitet
- publisitetadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Portuguese publicidade
- publicidadeadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Romanian publicitate, publicitate
- publicitateadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- publicitatepublic interest attracted in this way
Russian рекла́ма, пабли́сити
- рекла́ма (rekláma)advertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- пабли́сити (pablísiti)advertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- сла́ва (sláva)public interest attracted in this way
- изве́стность (izvéstnostʹ)public interest attracted in this way
- гла́сность (glásnostʹ)the condition of being the object of public attention
- пабли́сити (pablísiti)the condition of being the object of public attention
Spanish publicidad, toda la publicidad
- publicidadadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- toda la publicidadadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
- publicidadesadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Swedish publicitet
- publicitetadvertising or other activity designed to rouse public interest in something
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with publicity
Cite this entry
publicity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/publicity
“publicity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/publicity. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “publicity,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/publicity.
Source: publicity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.