brag vs puff

brag

verb
  • To boast; to talk with excessive pride about what one has, is able to do, or has done; often as an attempt to popularize oneself. 

  • To boast of something. 

noun
  • A boast or boasting; bragging; ostentatious pretence or self-glorification. 

  • The thing which is boasted of. 

  • The card game three card brag. 

adj
  • Excellent; first-rate. 

puff

verb
  • To inflate with pride, flattery, self-esteem, etc.; often with up. 

  • To cause to swell or dilate; to inflate. 

  • To emit smoke, gas, etc., in puffs. 

  • To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated. 

  • To blow as an expression of scorn. 

  • To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously. 

  • To pant. 

  • To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance. 

  • To praise with exaggeration; to flatter; to call public attention to by praises; to praise unduly. 

  • To drive with a puff, or with puffs. 

noun
  • A portion of fabric gathered up so as to be left full in the middle. 

  • A powder puff. 

  • A small quantity of gas or smoke in the air. 

  • A sudden but small gust of wind, smoke, etc. 

  • A light cake filled with cream, cream cheese, etc. 

  • A puffball. 

  • A region of a chromosome exhibiting a local increase in diameter. 

  • Synonym of poof: a male homosexual, especially an effeminate one. 

  • The drug cannabis. 

  • A flamboyant or alluring statement of praise. 

  • The ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself. 

  • A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth. 

  • An act of inhaling smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe. 

How often have the words brag and puff occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )