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

See Examples For:

blockbusting

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

The email caught Mason in a reflective mood, arriving in the wake of Their Mortal Remains, the blockbusting V&A exhibition that finally seemed to draw a line under Pink Floyd’s career.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 20, 2018

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

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 Douglas (Douglas N.) Hay