pub ‧ lic ‧ i ‧ ty S3 W3 /pʌˈblɪsəti, pʌˈblɪsɪti/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ public , ↑ publication , ↑ publicist , ↑ publicity ; verb : ↑ publicize ; adverb : ↑ publicly ; adjective : ↑ public ]
1 . the attention that someone or something gets from newspapers, television etc:
Standards in education have received much publicity over the last few years.
bad/good/unwelcome etc publicity
It’s important to gain good publicity for the school.
The adverse publicity had damaged sales.
2 . the business of making sure that people know about a new product, film etc or what a particular famous person is doing:
Who’s going to do the show’s publicity?
The Government has launched a publicity campaign.
Is their much-reported romance just a publicity stunt (=something that is only done to get publicity) ?
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ bad publicity ( also adverse/negative publicity formal )
Fatty foods have received much bad publicity in recent years.
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They don't want any more adverse publicity.
▪ good publicity
Top exam results are good publicity for schools.
▪ free publicity
Giving away samples is one way of getting free publicity for your products.
▪ widespread/wide publicity
The scandal had received widespread publicity.
▪ national publicity
Candidates aim to get national publicity during election campaigns.
▪ considerable/massive/extensive publicity
The opening of the trial generated considerable publicity.
▪ maximum publicity
Throughout the strike, the workers achieved maximum publicity for their demands.
▪ unwelcome publicity
Their relationship had attracted unwelcome publicity.
■ verbs
▪ get publicity ( also receive publicity )
Climate change is getting a lot of publicity.
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Such studies have received a lot of publicity.
▪ attract publicity
Two recommendations in the report have attracted publicity.
▪ gain publicity
Appearing on a chat show means you gain publicity.
▪ generate publicity
The publication of the book generated an enormous amount of publicity.
▪ give publicity to something
Much publicity was given to their allegations in the British press.
▪ avoid publicity
They wanted to settle the matter quietly in order to avoid bad publicity.
▪ shun publicity
He lives quietly in Acton with his wife and two sons and shuns publicity.
▪ seek publicity
He sought neither reward nor publicity for his work.
■ phrases
▪ the glare of publicity (=a lot of publicity, which can make you feel uncomfortable)
He carried on his life in the full glare of publicity.
▪ a blaze of publicity (=a lot of publicity)
His marriage broke up in a blaze of publicity.