blockbuster
noun
Blockbuster — a wildly successful hit with massive popular and commercial reach
Definition
An unusually successful hit with widespread popularity and huge sales (especially a movie or play or recording or novel)
In depth
A blockbuster is an unusually successful hit, particularly a movie, achieving widespread popularity and enormous sales, the word evoking scale and cultural dominance. It describes not merely a successful work but one that reshapes commercial expectations entirely, drawing audiences far beyond a genre's usual base.
Origin
The word originated during the Second World War, describing a bomb large enough to destroy an entire city block. Its dramatic, explosive origin transferred into entertainment vocabulary by the mid-twentieth century, describing a film or work so commercially explosive in its success that it seemed to demolish all prior box office expectations, much as the original weapon demolished physical structures.
Usage examples
"The summer blockbuster broke box office records that had stood, seemingly unbreakable, for over a decade."
"Publishers increasingly chase the elusive blockbuster, a single book capable of generating sales most authors never approach."
"Critics were divided on the film's artistic merit, though no one disputed its status as a genuine blockbuster."
How to use it
Blockbuster is widely used vocabulary in entertainment and publishing journalism, particularly common when describing commercial success at a scale large enough to reshape industry expectations and strategy.
Related concepts
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