BALLYHOO Meaning of BALLYHOO in English informal■ noun extravagant publicity or fuss. ■ verb ( ~s , ~ing , ~ed ) chiefly N. Amer. praise or publicize extravagantly.OriginC19 (orig. US): of unknown origin. Concise Oxford English vocab. Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка. 2004