Meaning
An outstandingly successful show, film, song, game or product; a success so emphatic it dominates its field for a season. Originally entertainment slang, now stretched to anything from apps to restaurant launches. It works as a noun ('a smash hit') and attributively as an adjective ('a smash-hit musical'). Informal, enthusiastic and headline-friendly; hyperbolic by definition, so it sits oddly beside modest successes. Regional use: General English (American show-business origin).
Origin
Both halves come from older show-business talk, but the compound is younger than often claimed. 'Hit' has meant a success since the 1810s, first in crime slang and then in the entertainment industry, while 'smash' took on the success sense much later, with British users apparently first; Dictionary.com notes 'smash' for a great success as early as 1906. The compound 'smash hit' is first recorded in a Variety headline of October 1923, which Etymonline pins to the 16 October 1923 issue about the Broadway productions The Fool and The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly; reviews spread the phrase widely by the 1940s. The often-repeated claim that 'smash' was 1880s-90s American theatrical slang for a success is not supported by either reference checked, so the 1923 documentation is the firm ground and the 1880s story should be dropped or flagged.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- a smash
- an absolute smash
- smash hit of the season
- smash success
- smash-hit (adjective)
Usage Examples
- The low-budget horror film became the summer's surprise smash hit.
- Her debut novel was a smash hit in Japan years before English readers discovered it.
- Nobody expected the museum's escape-room exhibit to be a smash hit with teenagers.