Blockbuster

How to spell blockbuster

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce blockbuster

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does blockbuster mean?

1. nounA film, book, or product that is hugely popular and commercially successful.
2. nounA very large aerial bomb of the Second World War, capable of destroying a whole city block.

Blockbuster in a sentence

• The studio spent millions hoping for a summer blockbuster.

• The museum exhibit described how a single blockbuster could level several buildings at once.

• Her debut novel turned into an unexpected blockbuster that sold worldwide.

• Bomber crews loaded the blockbuster before the night raid.

Where does blockbuster come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is a relatively modern American coinage from the early 1940s, built from the everyday English words 'block' (a section of a town bounded by streets) and 'buster', from 'bust', a colloquial form of 'burst' meaning to break or smash apart. During the Second World War, airmen used 'blockbuster' to describe an enormous aerial bomb so powerful it could flatten an entire city block, and the vivid mental image carried the word into wider use. By the late 1940s and 1950s it had shifted from explosives to entertainment, describing a film, novel, or production that lands with overwhelming impact and box-office success. The spelling is straightforward once you see it as two plain words joined together, which is the easiest way to remember it. The 'b' in the middle (bloc-K-Buster) simply marks where 'block' ends and 'buster' begins.

How the word is built

• block (a city block)
• bust (to break or smash)
• -er (agent suffix: thing that does it)