bestseller

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,576 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: bestsellers

A bestseller is the book everyone is buying this year. A runaway bestseller, the bestseller list, an international bestseller.

It is a measure of sales rather than quality, and the lists that certify it are compiled differently — some by copies sold, some by sampled shops, and the differences produce real arguments. Getting onto one drives further sales, which is most of why publishers care. Note bestselling as the adjective; and that a bestseller need not have sold very many at all in a quiet year.

Definitions of bestseller

1nounbestsellerA book that sells in very large numbers.B2+
“Her first novel became a bestseller, and she gave up her job to write full-time.”

bestseller is a commercially successful book.

Also accepted in games: best seller

Where it comes from

Best plus seller, from American English about 1889. Seller here means the thing sold rather than the person selling it, which is an unusual use.

From best + seller.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Music, Art & Culture

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bestseller in the wild

The novel was a runaway bestseller, setting records on the New York Times bestseller list, with more than 2 million copies in print during its initial publication.
Auntie Mame
A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains.
Bestseller
An author may also be referred to as a bestseller if their work often appears in a list.
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book or some other form of media noted for its top selling status.
Bestseller (disambiguation)
The book was published in nine languages across 22 countries simultaneously and remained on The New York Times bestseller list for six weeks.
Miracle: A Celebration of New Life

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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