blockbusting

American  

[blok-buhs-ting] / ˈblɒkˌbʌs tɪŋ /

noun

1. the profiteering real-estate practice of buying homes from white majority homeowners below market value, based on the implied threat of future devaluation during minority integration of previously segregated neighborhoods.

---

blockbusting British  

/ ˈblɒkˌbʌstɪŋ /

noun

1. informal the act or practice of inducing the sale of property cheaply by exploiting the owners' fears of lower prices if racial minorities live in the area

---

Etymology

Origin of blockbusting

First recorded in 1940–45; block + bust ² + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

But given the SFA's scheme is stopping just as the first cohort are in their mid-20s, it's hardly blockbusting figures.

From BBC • Nov. 17, 2025

The reappearance of cocky Navy pilot Capt. Pete Mitchell to movie theaters sent blockbusting shockwaves around the world.

From Washington Times • Nov. 11, 2022

If chosen for Bond 25, Bier would replace Sam Mendes, who, after the blockbusting successes of Skyfall and Spectre, has announced he will not return for a third Bond film.

From The Guardian • Jun. 1, 2016

His career spanned seven decades, and he was still appearing on screen well into his eighties, notably in Peter Jackson's blockbusting trilogy, The Lord of the Rings and Tim Burton's Dark Shadows in 2012.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2015

I reached in where we used to keep milk, pulled one out and it looked bigger than a blockbusting bomb.

From Epistles from Pap: Letters from the man known as 'The Will Rogers of Indiana' by Hay, Douglas (Douglas N.)