bestseller

noun

best·​sell·​er ˈbes(t)-ˈse-lər How to pronounce bestseller (audio)
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 noun
best-selling adjective

Examples of bestseller in a Sentence

She has written several best sellers.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Some stand out for their pedigree — a thriller adapted from João Tordo’s bestseller, or a docudrama reopening the Columbus debate. Anna Marie De La Fuente, Variety, 1 Oct. 2025 For Dior, slingbacks are an essential code, anchored by the J’Adior style that became a bestseller under Maria Grazia Chiuri. Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 1 Oct. 2025 Henry’s book was first published in 2021, and if debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and spent more than one year on the list. Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 30 Sep. 2025 Lee tells me her cinnamon rolls are the second bestseller. Shindy Chen, Charlotte Observer, 29 Sep. 2025 The books are actually hundreds of thousands of places down the Kindle Store bestseller rank. Jake Kanter, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2025 Evelyn’s agenda, articulated in a book that is unconvincingly treated as a bestseller, has something to do with epigenetic trauma and kids being the victims of psychoses patterned through their parents. Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2025 The venture has nabbed multiple Oscar nominations and eight Emmy Awards, launched many of the buzziest, yellow-sticker-donning bestsellers, and brought numerous stories about the female experience to the forefront of popular culture. Emily St. Martin, Oc Register, 24 Sep. 2025 Marisa Silver is the author of the novels At Last; The Mysteries; Little Nothing; Mary Coin, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Southern California Independent Bookseller’s Award; The God of War, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction; and No Direction Home. Marisa Silver september 23, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1864, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bestseller was in 1864

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bestseller.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bestseller. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.

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

More from Merriam-Webster on bestseller

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!