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a clamorous and vigorous attempt to win customers or advance any cause; blatant advertising or publicity.
clamor or outcry.
a halfbeak, Hemiramphus brasiliensis, inhabiting both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
to advertise or push by ballyhoo.
Contemporary Examples

None of the candidates in the ballyhooed “commander-in-chief debate” in South Carolina offered a very commanding performance.
Republican Debate Shows a Snoozy Field Stymied by Obama Jacob Heilbrunn November 12, 2011

The truth of the matter is that England, for all its ballyhooed history, is a minor traditional power.
Can England Forgive Robert Green? Alex Massie June 12, 2010

Historical Examples

The show was ballyhooed the whole week while the work went on.
Prologue to an Analogue Leigh Richmond

I confessed how I ballyhooed at the door of an embroidery shop whenever a ship loosed English passengers for a two-hour visit.
Where the Pavement Ends John Russell

Jim was stupefied to find himself once more pilloried and portraited and ballyhooed in the newspapers.
We Can’t Have Everything Rupert Hughes

noun (informal)
a noisy, confused, or nonsensical situation or uproar
sensational or blatant advertising or publicity
verb -hoos, -hooing, -hooed
(transitive) (mainly US) to advertise or publicize by sensational or blatant methods
n.

“publicity, hype,” 1908, from circus slang, “a short sample of a sideshow” (1901), of unknown origin. There is a village of Ballyhooly in County Cork, Ireland. In nautical lingo, ballahou or ballahoo (1867, perhaps 1836) meant “an ungainly vessel,” from Spanish balahu “schooner.”

adjective

Much publicized; hyped-up: two ballyhooed mergers between telephone companies and cable-TV outifts (1920s+)

noun

An alumnus or alumna