ballyhoo artist
- noun
- /ˈbæliˌhuː ˈɑːrtɪst/
- Literature
:
sensacionalista
- The circus hired a skilled ballyhoo artist to boost ticket sales with wild promotions.
Examples
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The ballyhoo artist drew crowds with his outrageous claims and elaborate stunts.
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To promote the new movie, the studio hired a ballyhoo artist known for his sensational marketing tactics.
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Many viewed him as a talented ballyhoo artist rather than a serious journalist due to his flashy headlines.
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The ballyhoo artist drew a large crowd at the festival.
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Many ballyhoo artists use flashy costumes to attract attention.
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The ballyhoo artist captivated the audience with his outrageous stunts and over-the-top promotions.
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His reputation as a ballyhoo artist was solidified after he staged a dramatic publicity stunt that went viral.
Synonyms
7
7.5
Someone who behaves to get attention by showing off skills or style
2
7.6
A person who tries hard to get public or media attention
1
9.1
A person who tries hard to get attention from the media in an obvious way to become more famous
1
7.9
A person who shows off to get attention
1
9.9
A vain, talkative person who likes to show off
1
7.5
A man or boy who makes his feelings seem bigger than they are to get attention
1
7.8
A person who makes news seem more shocking to get attention
A person who tries to get noticed by being with famous people or doing things to get attention
How Sensational
Surface Forms
Morphology
ballyhoo + artist
The meaning is directly built from 'ballyhoo' (sensational publicity) + 'artist' (a person/practitioner), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes someone who practices ballyhoo. This agentive composition is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern in English compounds, making the expression immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
Ballyhoo artist comes from old fairs and circuses. One popular story says ballyhoo was the loud, showy talk and stunts used by showmen to get a crowd, and an artist of this sort was someone very good at those noisy promotions, so today it means 'a person who uses exaggerated publicity to get attention'.