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selloff

selloff

4 6.3
A sudden fall in stock or bond prices when many people try to get rid of them
  • noun
  • /ˈsɛlˌɔf/
  • Specialized
: liquidación
  • Investors reacted quickly, leading to a significant selloff of shares in the tech sector.
  • stock selloff
  • market selloff
  • the recent selloff

Examples

  • Friday's dismal jobs report triggered a selloff, and the stock market has now erased all its gains for the year.

    Blog text (32)
  • High-yield bond markets in Europe did experience an immediate selloff, pushing yields within a week of the Danish vote.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Fourth, the selloff was combined with the decline in long bond prices.

    Blog text (6)
  • The instant the Fed changes stance, they risk starting the selloff that will destroy the US dollar.

    Blog text (8)
  • I asked about the 1090 gap in gold a few days back, as the broad selloff should affect gold as it has in the past.

    Blog text (21)
  • Of that amount, some $53 billion has come out since last October, the bottom of a two-month selloff sparked by a crisis in Europe and the loss of the United States' top credit rating.

    Blog text (21)
  • Her comments sparked a monthlong muni selloff, with investors yanking $4 billion out of the market through mid-January.

    Blog text (6)
  • In a secular bear market, stocks tend to move sideways for years, interrupted by sharp rallies and sharp selloffs.

    Blog text (10)
  • Macroeconomists around the world had long warned of global imbalances stemming from U.S. trade and budget deficits and China's accumulation of U.S. debt, which they feared could trigger a global dollar selloff.

    Academic text (2018)
  • The sudden selloff in the stock market caused panic among investors trying to minimize their losses.

Synonyms

fire sale
vsselloff
10 4.2

People sell goods at very low prices because they must sell quickly

is sold quickly but not necessarily because of an emergency
divestment
vsselloff
  • Literature
5 6.0

Selling investments or parts of a company to stop owning them

is driven by quick disposal at low prices rather than chosen ethical motives
clearance sale
vsselloff
4 2.1

A sale when a shop sells many items at low prices to make room for new stock

happens quickly to offload assets, not only for seasonal stock turnover
divestiture
vsselloff
  • Specialized
3 8.9

The sale of parts of a company, like a smaller company it owns

is a rapid disposal at low prices rather than a planned corporate restructuring
closeout
vsselloff
  • US
2 4.8

A sale with much lower prices to sell remaining goods when a shop closes

focuses on selling large asset quantities quickly, often in financial markets rather than stores
2 3.5

A sale where a shop sells everything at low prices because it is closing

is used for quick disposal even when the seller is not closing permanently
liquidation sale
vsselloff
1 3.7

A sale of most goods at low prices when a business closes down

focuses on selling a large amount quickly rather than clearing everything
3.3

A shop event to sell old or extra items at low prices

aims to remove large quantities quickly for reasons beyond just clearing surplus

Antonyms

buyback
  • Specialized
11 5.9

An agreement where someone buys back something they sold before, often a company buying its own shares

How Large

liquidation
  • Specialized
15 7.3
selloff
  • Specialized
4 6.3
sale
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

selloff singular
selloffs plural

Morphology

selloff = sell + off (transparent) = sell + off

The noun is directly formed from the phrasal verb 'sell off' (sell + off) and preserves the sense of disposing items quickly, often at low prices.

Etymology

The word selloff combines sell and off. Off here means 'away' or 'clear-out', so a selloff is like a big clear-out where many items or stocks are sold quickly, often at low prices.