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
And there's a cheeky riposte to their critics on the jazzy potboiler They Don't Know 'Bout Us: "You say we changed? We feel the same."
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026
A lurid tale of misadventure, moral bankruptcy and mean girls, “His & Hers” has other qualities, too, notably Tessa Thompson, whose recent turn in “Hedda” haunts her role in this potboiler.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
“Fox” has the bones of a potboiler but is supported by the sinew of the author’s elegant structure and syntax.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2025
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.