potboiler

[pot-boi-ler]

noun

1. a mediocre work of literature or art produced merely for financial gain.

potboiler

/ ˈpɒtˌbɔɪlə /

noun

1. informal,  a literary or artistic work of little merit produced quickly in order to make money

Word History and Origins

Origin of potboiler¹

First recorded in 1860–65; pot ¹ + boiler

Example Sentences

I thought, “You know, if we execute this well, it’ll be a really entertaining courtroom potboiler.”

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“Fox” has the bones of a potboiler but is supported by the sinew of the author’s elegant structure and syntax.

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Returning director Toby Haynes calls the original “a perfect script, a neat potboiler,” but describes “Into Infinity” as “maybe the most ambitious ‘Black Mirror’ episode ever made.”

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It’s going to lose to the airport novel papal potboiler?

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And yet it’s a very real possibility after the crowd-pleasing papal potboiler won the SAG Awards’ ensemble prize Sunday night.

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Related Words

• adventure 
• anecdote 
• article 
• autobiography 
• biography 
• book 
• comedy 
• description 
• drama 
• fable 
• fantasy 
• feature 
• fiction 
• history 
• information 
• legend 
• memoir 
• myth 
• narrative 
• novel