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.
The Chinese president was giving the hard sell to a room full of senior Latin American leaders on Tuesday. Jennifer Jett, NBC news, 13 May 2025 The largest platforms will converge in New York the week of May 12 to show off new content and put the hard sell on Madison Avenue for advertising commitments. Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 6 May 2025 At first, the idea of having engineers looming electronically over the timing stand was a hard sell. Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2025 Asking people whose lives were destroyed by opioid dependence to depend on a different opioid is already a hard sell. Ethan Brooks, The Atlantic, 23 Apr. 2025 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 10 Jun. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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