hard sell

noun

: aggressive high-pressure salesmanship compare soft sell

Examples of hard sell in a Sentence

Such an expensive project will be a hard sell during these slow economic times.
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.
With Australia’s recent and widely praised prevention of anyone under 16 being on social media in the background, META and Google will argue that they are protected from any liability over posting by users by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 — which many prove a hard sell. Dominic Patten, Deadline, 27 Jan. 2026 Plus, Marathon will cater to harder-core players rather than ARC, generally speaking, so switching over may be a hard sell. Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026 Trump’s effort to tie Democrats to spikes in the price of health insurance is a hard sell. Juan Williams, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026 But that’s a hard sell when a player has missed more than half the season and still hasn’t recovered from his original injury. Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for hard sell

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hard sell was in 1945

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hard sell.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard%20sell. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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