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Glite Dictionary
🎬 A big hit 💣 A huge bomb
blockbuster

blockbuster

81 2.6
A very popular film or book that earns a lot of money
  • noun
  • /ˈblɑkˌbʌstər/
translation icon : superéxito
  • I mean, Jurassic Park is one of the greatest blockbusters of all time.
  • a blockbuster movie
  • a Hollywood blockbuster
  • a blockbuster film

Great, Great books become blockbuster movies, but blockbuster movies never become great books.

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Examples

  • I think it'll be just an absolute blockbuster and so beautifully told.

  • Many fans consider Titanic to be a classic blockbuster that defined a generation.

  • Great, Great books become blockbuster movies, but blockbuster movies never become great books.

    The Diary Of A CEO

  • All right, we have a blockbuster season of Hot Ones coming to you very soon.

  • When will I ever see a major Hollywood blockbuster in which that happens?

  • With good word of mouth, this could be a blockbuster.

    Sinister Switch (2021)

  • Our movie would start out as a beautiful character piece and then, slowly change into a more thrilling... Hollywood blockbuster.

    The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)

  • Warner Bros. have started auditions for the Ken movie, which is already a blockbuster hit.

    Barbie (2023)

  • It's a guaranteed blockbuster.

    Ed Wood (1994)

  • Henry sits with his girlfriend, Corinne, watching a showing of the Warner-Kopelson blockbuster, Thief of Araby.

    Fiction book (1995)

Synonyms

hit
vsblockbuster
465 1.3

Something very popular and successful, like a song or show

refers specifically to extremely popular and commercially successful works
bestseller
vsblockbuster
84 2.4

A book or product that sells many copies soon after release

covers huge popularity and commercial success across different creative forms
big hit
vsblockbuster
54 2.7

Something that many people like or buy, especially in one group

implies wide public commercial success rather than limited group popularity
huge hit
vsblockbuster
18 2.8

A product, show or event that is very successful and liked by many people

emphasizes both extreme popularity and clear commercial success
smash hit
vsblockbuster
9 3.4

A very popular film, song, or book that many people enjoy

refers to extreme popularity with strong sales rather than general praise
megahit
vsblockbuster
3 3.4

A very popular movie or song many people enjoy

is used mainly for films books plays and other creative works
tentpole movie
vsblockbuster
  • Jargon
1 6.5

A big film that earns a lot of money and helps pay for other films

describes an actually extremely popular commercially successful work not just planned revenue

Antonyms

flop
44 4.3

A project or event that does not succeed

How Successful

blockbuster
81 2.6
smash hit
9 3.4
hit
465 1.3
success
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

blockbuster singular
blockbusters plural

Morphology

blockbuster = block + buster (opaque) = block + bust + er

The film-and-book sense is a figurative extension from the older bomb sense, so the component meanings do not directly predict the modern meaning.

Etymology

Blockbuster started as the name of a very large bomb that could destroy a whole block ('city block'), with buster meaning 'one that breaks'. People later used that image for films that 'break' sales records, so a blockbuster movie is one that is very popular and makes a lot of money.