sellout
[sel-out]
- an act or instance of selling out.
- an entertainment, as a show or athletic event, for which all the seats are sold.
- Informal. a person who betrays a cause, organization, or the like; traitor.
- Informal. a person who compromises his or her personal values, integrity, talent, or the like, for money or personal advancement.
Show More
Origin of sellout
1855–60, Americanism; noun use of verb phrase sell out
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sellout
Contemporary Examples
If one is a person of color and a conservative, one must then be an Uncle Tom, a sellout to his or her race.
But if you live on tea party planet, Boehner has been a sellout.
The contention was that a sellout was taking place led by, of all people, Richard Nixon, who originally exposed Alger Hiss.
Ideological polarization, however, eviscerates the center by treating compromise as a sellout.
It also requires that liberals think differently about politics and not interpret every Obama shortcoming as some kind of sellout.
Word Origin and History for sellout
n.
also sell-out, "corrupt bargain," 1862 (in Mary Chesnut's diary), from the verbal phrase (at that time often meaning "dispose of one's interests" in a company, etc.), from sell (v.) + out (adv.). Meaning "event for which all tickets have been sold" is attested from 1923. The verbal phrase sell out "prostitute one's ideals or talents" is attested from 1888.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper