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

BookTok is minting bestsellers, romantasy is booming, and Dua Lipa’s book club has an audience in the millions, so at a glance, reading culture looks alive. — Mckenna Friedland, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026

Thus, the formulas has certainly helped set the standard for skincare-makeup hybrids; and the same can be said for its Orgasm blush—a matte, peachy-pink pigment that has been a bestseller for more than 25 years since its 1999 debut. — Conçetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 28 Aug. 2026

That casting was for Prime Video’s romance The Last Sunrise, based on author Anna Todd’s 2025 bestseller and released this Wednesday. — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2026

Cutter is the pseudonym for USA Today bestseller Craig Davidson, whose novel won the James Herbert Award for Horror Writing. — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 27 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1864, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bestseller

• bookseller
• flagellar
• impeller
• lamellar
• micellar
• modeller
• ocellar
• patellar
• propeller
• reseller
• scutellar
• beller

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