sellout

[ sel-out ]

noun

1. Informal. a person who compromises their personal values, integrity, talent, etc., for money or personal advancement.
2. Informal. a person who betrays a cause, organization, or the like; traitor.
3. an act or instance of selling out.
4. an entertainment, as a show or athletic event, for which all the seats are sold.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sellout¹

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; noun use of verb phrase sell out

Example Sentences

One, treat each other with respect–don’t say that guy’s a sellout or this person has no courage.

From Time

So, too, is this Baltimore Orioles team — one on the upswing but enduring growing pains on a big league stage, as shown by a 7-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox before an announced sellout crowd of 10,150 in the club’s home opener.

From Washington Post

The Dayton Dragons, a Class A league team owned by the Cincinnati Reds that holds the longest sellout streak of any sports team in America, draws 540,000 fans to the Ohio city’s downtown every summer.

From Ozy

The biggest, most well-funded competitions, like Activision-Blizzard’s Overwatch League, are held in-person in massive arenas like Madison Square Garden, often before sellout crowds.

From Time

If one is a person of color and a conservative, one must then be an Uncle Tom, a sellout to his or her race.

From The Daily Beast

But if you live on tea party planet, Boehner has been a sellout.

From The Daily Beast

The contention was that a sellout was taking place led by, of all people, Richard Nixon, who originally exposed Alger Hiss.

From The Daily Beast

Ideological polarization, however, eviscerates the center by treating compromise as a sellout.

From The Daily Beast

It also requires that liberals think differently about politics and not interpret every Obama shortcoming as some kind of sellout.

From The Daily Beast

"That was the dirtiest sellout I've ever heard, Manning," Tom growled.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• giveaway