Edsel

E1D2S1E1L1

proper noun

A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Etzel.

Similar
floplead balloonlemon
Less commonScrabble 6
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Etzel.
  2. historicalautomotiveAn automobile marque that was planned, manufactured, and launched with great advertising hype by the Ford Motor Company in September 1957, but was a notorious failure.
nounEdsel (plural Edsels)

plural Edsels

  1. USinformalAny unwanted product or commercial failure, especially one given much publicity.

    Tom Paris: Harry… I think we built an Edsel. Harry Kim: A what? Tom Paris: A lemon. A disaster waiting to happen.

    1998, Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Joe Menosky, “Timeless”, in Star Trek: Voyager, season 5, episode 6, spoken by Tom Paris
    1 more example

    It was as if, they wrote, “IBM has deliberately established a pair of subsidiaries, one to produce computers and profits, another to manufacture Edsels and losses.”

    2016, Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy, page 97

    Synonyms: flop, lead balloon, lemon

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAny unwanted product or commercial failure, especially one given much publicity.

Similar
floplead balloonlemon

Origin

The automobile marque is named after Edsel Ford (1893–1943), son of Henry Ford. Compare German Etzel.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

leeds
Cite this entry
APA

Edsel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Edsel

MLA

“Edsel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Edsel. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Edsel,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Edsel.

Source: Edsel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.