sellout
Americannoun
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sellouts
plural
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Informal. a person who compromises their personal values, integrity, talent, etc., for money or personal advancement.
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Informal. a person who betrays a cause, organization, or the like; traitor.
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an act or instance of selling out.
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an entertainment, as a show or athletic event, for which all the seats are sold.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sellout
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; noun use of verb phrase sell out
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.
See Examples For:
As the first notes played, the sellout crowd of 66,925 started singing, quickly drowning out the loudspeakers.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
Mexico’s defense held off a spirited final push by South Korea, earning a 1-0 win on Thursday night at Guadalajara Stadium in front of a fiery announced sellout crowd of 45,522.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
While not a "fair comparison" due to the compressed schedule compared to the World Cup, Swift coming to town was "a city-wide sellout type of event", Jenkins said.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
A chorus of boos from the sellout crowd at Honda Center chased the Ducks to the locker room after the second period.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2026
And it’s just weird and uncomfortable, and I feel like a sellout.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
“The Palm House” is hard on perceived sellouts, such as Edmund’s commercially minded boss and an oddly two-faced TV producer who briefly enters Laura’s orbit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The hosts get generational wealth and perhaps retain enough editorial freedom to look in the mirror and tell themselves they aren’t sellouts.
From Slate ● Apr. 7, 2026
Tickets for India-Pakistan games still fly off the shelves - the ICC reported sellouts within minutes.
From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2025
The Saturday and Monday sessions at Iowa’s Carver-Hawkeye Arena are also sellouts.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2024
“Then what? We just like all the other sellouts who leave and turn their backs on the neighborhood. We can change stuff around here, but instead we run? That’s what you wanna teach our kids?”
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
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.
