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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
potboiler
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Pukhov, a careerist painter, sacrifices his artistic integrity by cynically painting potboilers to please factory and party committees.
▪ The title, like nearly everything else in this brilliant, incisive political potboiler, is well-nigh perfect.
▪ These are performances to make you forget these are pieces usually treated as potboilers.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Potboiler

Potboiler \Pot"boil`er\, n. A term applied derisively to any literary or artistic work, and esp. a painting, done simply for money and the means of living. [Cant]

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
potboiler

also pot-boiler, 1864 in the figurative literary sense, from pot (n.1) + agent noun from boil (v.). The notion is of something one writes solely to put food on the table.

Wiktionary
potboiler

n. (alternative spelling of pot boiler English)

WordNet
potboiler

n. a literary composition of poor quality that was written quickly to make money (to boil the pot)

Wikipedia
Potboiler

A potboiler or pot-boiler is a novel, play, opera, film, or other creative work of dubious literary or artistic merit, whose main purpose was to pay for the creator's daily expenses—thus the imagery of "boil the pot", which means "to provide one's livelihood". Authors who create potboiler novels or screenplays are sometimes called hack writers or hacks. Novels deemed to be potboilers may also be called pulp fiction, and potboiler films may be called "popcorn movies."

Usage examples of "potboiler".

If you've managed to reach this stage of your life without having your mind rotted by science fiction potboilers, far be it from me to seduce you to the Dark Side.

With poverty a fear to be reckoned with, he constructed two potboilers and compiled another.

I doubted they could compete with the lurid potboilers I'd read on the beach.

You've got to romp home with an Oscar now and then to show the reviewers that you're interested in fine things as well as money-making potboilers.