blockbuster
Americannoun
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an aerial bomb containing high explosives and weighing from four to eight tons, used as a large-scale demolition bomb.
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a motion picture, novel, etc., especially one lavishly produced, that has or is expected to have wide popular appeal or financial success.
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something or someone that is forcefully or overwhelmingly impressive, effective, or influential.
The campaign was a blockbuster.
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a real-estate speculator who practices blockbusting.
noun
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a large bomb used to demolish extensive areas or strengthened targets
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a very successful, effective, or forceful person, thing, etc
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a lavish film, show, novel, etc, that proves to be an outstanding popular success
Etymology
Origin of blockbuster
Explanation
A blockbuster is a Hollywood movie that's made with a large budget and big stars. A true blockbuster is extremely popular and brings in a lot of money. Typically, a blockbuster is a fabulous summer movie that audiences line up to see the first weekend it's released. You can also call a successful play or a new, popular video game a blockbuster. Less, often, a huge bomb is a blockbuster — this is the word's original, 1940s meaning, from the fact that such a bomb could destroy an entire city block. The entertainment meaning, from the 1950s, began as theater slang.
Vocabulary lists containing blockbuster
And the Oscar Goes to... Award-worthy Words
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Academy Awards, List 4
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This Week in Words: Current Event Vocabulary for November 4–November 10, 2023
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Blockbuster earnings helped carry stocks to new highs in recent weeks.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
Netflix came out of nowhere in the mid-2000s to topple Blockbuster in the DVD rental market.
From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026
Blockbuster romance Saiyaara followed a troubled male rockstar who ultimately "rescues" his partner who is struggling with Alzheimer's disease.
From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026
The movie-going audience will shrink, and theaters will go the way of Blockbuster video stores.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025
At one point Alpert launched into a complicated story of how to make the best use of coupons in renting videos at Blockbuster.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
