The quality of being puffy, swollen, or puffed out; a tendency toward bombast or pretentiousness.
From French 'bouffant' (puffed, swollen) + English -cy suffix (making abstract nouns). 'Bouffant' itself comes from 'bouffer' meaning to puff. The word evolved to describe both physical puffiness and metaphorical bombast.
Bouffancy describes both big hair and big egos—the word works for puffy hairdos and pretentious talk! Language sometimes creates words that capture the human condition perfectly.
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