Puffy means swollen, puffed up, or filled with air in a way that makes something look soft, round, and bigger than usual. A puffy winter coat is thick and filled with insulation that traps air to keep you warm. Puffy clouds look like giant cotton balls floating in the sky. If you hit your elbow hard, it might get puffy and swollen around the bump.

The word describes that particular soft, inflated quality. Puffy pancakes rise up light and airy. Puffy eyes after crying look swollen and tender. A puffer fish gets its name because it inflates itself into a puffy ball when threatened, making itself look too big for predators to swallow.

Sometimes puffy suggests something is overdone or excessive, like when someone gets a puffy sense of pride and acts more important than they really are. But usually it's just a useful word for describing that soft, swollen, air-filled quality that makes things look rounder and bigger than their normal size.