blockbuster

See also: Blockbuster

English

Etymology

From block +‎ buster, referring originally to aerial bombs capable of destroying a whole block of buildings.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈblɒkˌbʌs.tə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈblɑkˌbʌs.tɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

blockbuster (plural blockbusters)

1. A high-explosive bomb used for the purposes of demolishing extensive areas, such as a city block.
2. (informal) Something, such as a film or book, that sustains exceptional and widespread popularity and achieves enormous sales, as opposed to a box office bomb.
3. (informal) Something, especially an event or a film, book or other creative work, that is intended to achieve high sales (perhaps indicated by large budgets or high advertising spending) or that is conceived on a large or epic scale
   • 1961, “Ives”, in Twentieth Century Music In The Western Hemisphere‎^[2], J. B. Lippincott, page 146:

     "General William Booth Enters into Heaven" is lusty, a blockbuster conception.

   • 1994, “Drama”, in Whitaker's Almanack, 1994‎^[3], page 1135:

     The report noted that 'an increasing public appetite for large "blockbuster" musicals is a firmly established feature of London’s West End theatre scene'.

4. (slang) Anything very large or powerful; a whopper.
   • 1998, Yves Beauchemin, The Second Fiddle, page 383:

     “How nice," she responded to his invitation, “but I've got a blockbuster of a headache. I'm paying for last night. Call me tomorrow, will you?"

   • 2021 July 21, Neil Irwin, “Is the U.S. Economy Too Hot or Too Cold? Yes.”, in The New York Times‎^[4], →ISSN:

     In the mid-2021 economy, employers are offering higher pay to attract scarce workers; airports and car lots are bustling; and a G.D.P. report due out next week will probably show blockbuster growth.

   • 2020, Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, page 211:

     Many—such as plants' relationships with mycorrhizal fungi—have been blockbuster moments in the history of life, with world-changing consequences.

5. A large firework of the firecracker type; an M-80.
6. (US) One who engages in blockbusting (technique encouraging people to sell property).
   • 2016, Sabiyha Prince, African Americans and Gentrification in Washington, D.C., page 106:

     Whereas White residents fell prey to blockbusters who stoked fears of invading Negroes and plummeting housing values during the 1950s, African Americans confronted more-than-imagined difficulties in neighborhoods after the 1968 riots.

Derived terms

• blockbuster drug
• blockbusterish
• blockbusterize
• bonkbuster
• knockbuster
• megablockbuster
• mockbuster
• nonblockbuster
• schlockbuster

 

Related terms

• block
• blockbust (verb)
• bunker buster
• bust
• dambuster

 

Descendants

• → Catalan: blockbuster
• → French: blockbuster
• → German: Blockbuster
• → Italian: blockbuster
• → Japanese: ブロックバスター (burokubasutā)
• → Korean: 블록버스터 (beullokbeoseuteo)
• → Polish: blockbuster
• → Portuguese: blockbuster
• → Russian: блокба́стер (blokbástɛr)
• → Spanish: blockbuster

Translations

high-explosive bomb

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 巨型炸彈／巨型炸弹 (jùxíng zhàdàn)

• Faroese: karrébumba f
• Finnish: korttelipommi
• German: Luftmine (de) f, Minenbombe f, Wohnblockknacker m
• Japanese: ブロックバスター (burokubasutā)
• Kyrgyz: эң кубаттуу фугас бомба (ky) f (eŋ kubattuu fugas bomba)
• Russian: фуга́сная бо́мба f (fugásnaja bómba)
• Spanish: bombazo (es) m
• Swedish: kvartersbomb

film or book, that sustains exceptional and widespread popularity and achieves enormous sales

• Arabic: بْلُوكْبَاسْتَر m (blūkbāstar)
• Armenian: բլոկբաստեր (hy) (blokbaster)
• Belarusian: блокба́стэр m (blokbáster)
• Bulgarian: блокбъ́стър m (blokbǎ́stǎr)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 巨片 (jùpiān), 大片 (zh) (dàpiān), 風靡一時的事物／风靡一时的事物 (fēngmí yīshí de shìwù)

• Czech: trhák m
• Dutch: kaskraker (nl) m
• Faroese: metsølufilmur m (film), metsølubók f (book)
• Finnish: jymymenestys
• French: blockbuster (fr) m
• Georgian: ბლოკბასტერი (bloḳbasṭeri)
• German: Blockbuster (de) m, Verkaufsschlager (de) m, Kassenknüller m, Knüller (de) m, Hit (de) m, Kassenschlager (de) m, Renner (de) m, Bestseller (de) m (book), Straßenfeger (de) m (TV movie, dated)
• Greek: μπλοκμπάστερ (blokmpáster)
• Hindi: ब्लॉकबस्टर (blŏkbasṭar)
• Hungarian: kasszasiker (hu), bombasiker (hu), rendkívül sikeres mű
• Italian: successo commerciale m
• Japanese: ブロックバスター (burokubasutā)
• Kazakh: блокбастер (blokbaster), боевик (boevik)
• Korean: 블록버스터 (beullokbeoseuteo)
• Kyrgyz: блокбастер (ky) m (blokbaster)
• Lithuanian: kultinis serialas m
• Polish: blockbuster (pl) m, hit (pl) m
• Portuguese: arrasa-quarteirão (pt) m
• Russian: блокба́стер (ru) m (blokbástɛr)
• Spanish: taquillazo m, bombazo (es) m, blockbuster (es) m, superventas m
• Swedish: knallsucce, kassasuccé (sv) c
• Ukrainian: блокба́стер m (blokbáster)

large firecracker type of fireworks

Catalan

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English blockbuster.

Noun

blockbuster m (plural blockbusters)

1. blockbuster (film or book that sustains exceptional and widespread popularity and achieves enormous sales)
   • 2020 August 7, “Els cinemes espanyols acusen Disney d'enganyar el públic amb 'Mulan' [Spanish movie theaters accuse Disney of misleading the public with Mulan]”, in Ara‎^[5]:

     La cancel·lació de l'estrena a les sales després d'haver-la "publicitat des del primer moment en què es va presentar la pel·lícula" suposa un cop més per als empresaris de cinemes, que esperaven l'arribada del blockbuster per intentar recuperar-se de l'aturada del coronavirus.

     The cancellation of the premiere in theaters after having "advertised it from the first moment that the film was revealed" means one more blow to theater owners, who awaited the arrival of the blockbuster to try to recover from the stoppage of the coronavirus.

French

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English blockbuster.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɔk.bys.tœʁ/, /blɔk.bœs.tœʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

blockbuster m (plural blockbusters)

1. blockbuster (film or book that sustains exceptional and widespread popularity and achieves enormous sales)

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English blockbuster. First attested in 1997.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blɔɡˈbas.tɛr/
• Rhymes: -astɛr
• Syllabification: block‧bus‧ter

Noun

blockbuster m inan

1. (film, television) blockbuster

Declension

Declension of blockbuster

	singular	plural
nominative	blockbuster	blockbustery
genitive	blockbustera	blockbusterów
dative	blockbusterowi	blockbusterom
accusative	blockbuster	blockbustery
instrumental	blockbusterem	blockbusterami
locative	blockbusterze	blockbusterach
vocative	blockbusterze	blockbustery

Related terms

adjectives

• bloczny
• blokowiskowy
• blokowy

 

nouns

• bloczek
• bloczność
• bloczydło
• blok
• blokada
• bloker
• blokers
• blokhauz
• blokowiec
• blokowisko
• blokownia
• blokoza
• blokówka

 

verbs

• blokować impf
• odblokować pf
• odblokowywać impf
• przyblokować pf
• zablokować pf
• zablokowywać impf
• zblokować pf

 

See also

• bestseller

Further reading

• blockbuster in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English blockbuster.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbus.teʁ/ [ˈblɔ.ki ˈbus.teh], /ˈblɔk ˈbus.teʁ/ [ˈblɔk ˈbus.teh], /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbɐ̃s.teʁ/ [ˈblɔ.ki ˈbɐ̃s.teh], /ˈblɔk ˈbɐ̃s.teʁ/ [ˈblɔk ˈbɐ̃s.teh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbus.teʁ/ [ˈblɔ.ki ˈbus.teh], /ˈblɔk ˈbus.teʁ/ [ˈblɔk ˈbus.teh], /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbɐ̃s.teʁ/ [ˈblɔ.ki ˈbɐ̃s.teh], /ˈblɔk ˈbɐ̃s.teʁ/ [ˈblɔk ˈbɐ̃s.teh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbus.teɾ/, /ˈblɔk ˈbus.teɾ/, /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbɐ̃s.teɾ/, /ˈblɔk ˈbɐ̃s.teɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbuʃ.teʁ/ [ˈblɔ.ki ˈbuʃ.teχ], /ˈblɔk ˈbuʃ.teʁ/ [ˈblɔk ˈbuʃ.teχ], /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbɐ̃ʃ.teʁ/ [ˈblɔ.ki ˈbɐ̃ʃ.teχ], /ˈblɔk ˈbɐ̃ʃ.teʁ/ [ˈblɔk ˈbɐ̃ʃ.teχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈblɔk ˈbus.teɻ/, /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbus.teɻ/, /ˈblɔk ˈbɐ̃s.teɻ/, /ˈblɔ.ki ˈbɐ̃s.teɻ/

Noun

blockbuster m (plural blockbusters)

1. blockbuster (film or book that sustains exceptional and widespread popularity and achieves enormous sales)

   Synonym: arrasa-quarteirão

Further reading

• “blockbuster”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English blockbuster.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bloɡˈbasteɾ/ [bloɣ̞ˈβ̞as.t̪eɾ]
• Rhymes: -asteɾ

Noun

blockbuster m (plural blockbusters)

1. blockbuster (film or book that sustains exceptional and widespread popularity and achieves enormous sales)

   Synonyms: taquillazo, bombazo

   • 2017 November 15, Adolfo López, “La Liga de la Justicia llega esta noche a salas mexicanas [Justice League arrives tonight in Mexican theaters]”, in El Sol de México‎^[6]:

     La Liga de la Justicia llega como uno de los blockbusters principales para la temporada de fin de año.

     Justice League arrives as one of the main blockbusters for the end of year season.