potboiler
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of potboiler
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.
Bradford’s potboiler hit in time to meet the “greed is good” ’80s, a decade when the wealth divide increased sharply and economic survival felt only slightly less Darwinian than it does today.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
William Golding wrote his tale partially in response to “The Coral Island,” a Victorian-era potboiler about three boys who survive a shipwreck thanks to their bluff resourcefulness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 17, 2026
In that potboiler, a film he later disavowed as too tame, he was publicized as the first Black matinee idol for mainstream audiences.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 25, 2023
In modern music circles, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and this notorious potboiler, in particular, was to be avoided at all costs throughout much of the 20th century.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2023
Their stories were killed—they would have been an anti-climax to Keyhoe's potboiler.
From The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects by Edward J. Ruppelt
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.
