bestseller

noun

best·​sell·​er ˈbes(t)-ˈse-lər 

variants or best seller

plural bestsellers or best sellers

: a popular product and especially a book whose sales are among the highest of its class

[Isabel] Allende's new book is spun from the stuff of epic romances: eternal love, lost innocence, distant locales, revolution. In short, all the elements of a sure bestseller.

—Julie K. L. Dam

The Harvard Book Store Café … is not only the obvious choice for the latest best seller but the intelligent break for a shopper's graze.

—Alice Rubenstein Gochman

Two million copies have been sold, and it has been on the New York Times bestseller list for four years.

—Judith Daniels

… the two Fisher-Price bestsellers are the company's Fun with Food [toy] series and the Fisher-Price Fun with Food Kitchen.

—The New Yorker

She knows what the mass market wants—Vanderbilt and Chaps [fragrances] are best sellers—and she has a flair for what appeals to a more specialized market …

—Amy Singer

best-sellerdom

ˈbes(t)-ˈse-lər-dəm 

noun

best-selling

ˈbes(t)-ˈse-liŋ 

adjective

Examples of bestseller in a Sentence

She has written several best sellers.

Recent Examples on the Web

Ina Garten has written plenty of classic cookbooks: 13 bestsellers, to be exactly. —Christianna Silva, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Apr. 2024

While the sitcom deal may have went away, his 2007 autobiography Out of Sync became a New York Times bestseller, competed on Dancing with the Stars, launched a podcast and eventually found his way back to his boy band roots. —Eric Andersson, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2024

The book, which became a bestseller, featured Simpson’s original manuscript but with an introduction by the Goldmans, who viewed the story as Simpson’s confession. —Elaine Woo, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2024

Following the premiere of a film adaptation in 2012, the book became a New York Times bestseller. —Ella Feldman, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Apr. 2024

The set is on its way to becoming a bestseller, while fans are also picking their favorite tracks from the project to purchase one-off at the same time. —Hugh McIntyre, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

The book became a bestseller, partly because so few details of Gen. de Gaulle’s domestic life were known. —Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2024

Space black is a favorite Apple shade, and may well be the perennial bestseller. —David Phelan, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

The first season, which was based on Dave's 2021 bestseller of the same name, was initially conceived of as a limited series. —Lauren Huff, EW.com, 25 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1864, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

best-seller

noun

best-sell·​er

ˈbes(t)-ˈsel-ər

: an article (as a book) whose sales are among the highest of its kind

best-selling

-ˈsel-iŋ

adjective