potboiler

noun

pot·​boil·​er ˈpät-ˌbȯi-lər How to pronounce potboiler (audio)
: a usually inferior work (as of art or literature) produced chiefly for profit

Did you know?

Potboiler draws its meaning from what was once the heartbeat of the home, the hearth and its boiling pot. In the days before modern conveniences, it was essential to maintain a fire within a home's hearth for warmth and domestic activities. In order "to make the pot boil" or "to keep the pot boiling" for cooking, one needed fuel, and to acquire fuel one typically needed an income. When artistic and literary works, especially inferior ones, became the means of keeping the pot boiling in some homes during the 19th century, it didn't take long for the literati to criticize such works as insignificant potboilers.

Examples of potboiler in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The conventions and gestures of a topical potboiler—reflexive eye rolls, snap-worthy tell-offs—clearly excite him. Justin Chang, New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2025 In George Seaton’s star-studded adaptation of Arthur Hailey’s potboiler, the big disaster comes late in the story. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025 This ‘90s-style potboiler finds affluent attorney Mea Harper (Kelly Rowland) defending charismatic maybe-murderer Zyair Malloy (Moonlight’s Trevante Rhodes). Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Sep. 2025 Neil Jordan helmed this stylish remake of Jean-Pierre Melville’s potboiler Bob le Flambeur, which gives Nolte a role he was born to play. Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 13 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for potboiler

Word History

First Known Use

1783, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of potboiler was in 1783

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Cite this Entry

“Potboiler.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/potboiler. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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