Both words refer to activities engaged in by businesses or other enterprising organizations to gain public attention, such as advertising campaigns or press junkets. However, there are no ballyhoo departments. Publicity is the official and neutral term. Ballyhoo refers specifically, and usually dismissively, to a noisy style of promotion that is blatant, excessive, or extravagant. It’s commonly paired with “hype” and often appears preceded by “much” or “all the”: the play premiered amid much ballyhoo. In general usage, ballyhoo is sometimes used more loosely to mean media attention and public buzz no matter the source. Inevitably, what receives the ballyhoo doesn’t merit the clamor surrounding it.

There’s nothing more ordinary than boredom, the restless or weary state that comes from not being interested in any pursuit available to you (the boredom of a long commute). Ennui, a borrowing from French, is boredom taken more seriously. Ennui can suggest a more profound, philosophical or spiritual condition rather than lack of interest (existential ennui; suburban ennui; adolescent ennui). Although the expression “die of boredom” is one of the most common contexts for the word, ennui tends to be treated more as an actual illness or malaise: people are said to suffer from ennui and to overcome it. Angst, frustration, despair, and loneliness are some common companions of ennui.

Obtain and procure refer to getting something, or gaining possession of it, through some effort or process. Obtain is the general word for acquiring something using effort or by request (obtained a ticket for the show; obtain permission). Procure is an everyday word, in business and governmental contexts, for acquiring necessary supplies and equipment. In more general usage, however, procure suggests making a special effort to get something that may be difficult to obtain (managed to procure concert tickets). Procure is frequently used of necessities that conditions have made difficult to get (procuring organs to save lives, procuring food during wartime) and of illegal or illegally-obtained items, such as drugs and weapons.