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smash hit
noun
- a person or thing that is overwhelmingly successful or popular:
Both the play and the movie based on it were smash hits.
Idioms and Phrases
An outstanding success, as in She was a smash hit in the role of the governess , or His first book was a smash hit but this one isn't doing well . [c. 1920]Example Sentences
The writer and director of smash hit Prima Facie, starring Jodie Comer, reunite for a new legal drama.
Tesfaye's expansive 22-track venture has already become the biggest debut of the year, just weeks after its release, acting as a follow-up to the artist's other smash hit albums, "After Hours" and "Dawn FM."
The series, which turns 25 on Tuesday, was a smash hit on its original 2000 release, and has since become a genuine cultural phenomenon.
It would be hard for him to perform his smash hit 鈥淣ot Like Us鈥 without doing so 鈥 or at least without reminding viewers of the song鈥檚 most infamous hook.
Thanks to TikTok, her single "Escapism" 鈥 detailing her experiences with drugs and alcohol dependency 鈥 became a smash hit, topping the British charts and becoming the singer's first-ever Billboard Hot 100 entry.
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More About Smash Hit
What does smash hit mean?
A smash hit is a wildly successful piece of media or entertainment, especially songs, movies and TV, and musicals. It鈥檚 broadened to refer to anything that鈥檚 very popular.
How is smash hit pronounced?
[ smash hit ]
Where does smash hit come from?
We鈥檝e been using the word hit to describe a success of some kind since the early 1800s. Hit, here, nods to hitting the mark, or succeeding at a specific task. The word is especially associated with hit records or TV shows.
Since at least the 1900s, smash has been used with various senses of 鈥渆xcellence鈥 or a 鈥済reat sense.鈥 Think: You look absolutely smashing!听
The two words combine their power in the phrase smash hit, found as early as an October 1923 Variety headline about two, big-selling Broadway productions.
By the 1940s, the phrase had taken off in reviews of plays, songs, musicals, and books in publications from Life to Billboard. Since then, seldom a headline hasn鈥檛 called the 1990鈥2000s Harry Potter books or the 2015 Hamilton musical smash hits.
How is smash hit used in real life?
Smash hit is still widely used in the entertainment industry in headlines about and reviews of standout songs, movies, musicals, books, or shows. Industry publications and fans alike use the phrase, almost to the point some might consider it 肠濒颈肠丑茅诲.
's smash hit tops the Gaon Digital Chart in Korea for a 3rd straight week!馃憦1鈨ｐ煄叼焽梆焽佛煉凁煉凁煉凁煉凁煍ヰ煈
鈥 World Music Awards (@WORLDMUSICAWARD)
As the phrase has aged, smash hit has become common outside of just entertainment. Anything from jewelry and foods (remember the Cronut?) to new smartphones and online video series can be smash hits as long as they considered a big success鈥攈as gone viral.
Korean student's guide to London slang is web smash hit
鈥 Evening Standard (@standardnews)
More examples of smash hit:
Lifetime movie The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel has proven a smash hit for the network鈥攖heir biggest film debut in four years in fact鈥 as 2.7 million watched it on its April 11th premiere, and it currently boasts 13.4 million total views total.
鈥擜ntonia Blyth, Deadline, May 2020
Note
This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term鈥檚 history, meaning, and usage.
Definitions and idiom definitions from 亚洲网紅露点 Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 漏 Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage庐 Idioms Dictionary copyright 漏 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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