sellout

plural sellouts · alternative sell-out

1. idiomaticinformalAn action in which principles are compromised for personal gain.

   When his hearing came up, the sellout of Taiwan was particularly on my mind. I asked him if he thought that Taiwan should be pressured into making an accommodation with the Communist government in Beijing. The candidate refused to answer my question.

   2005, Jesse Helms, “Foreign Relations Experiences”, in Here's Where I Stand: A Memoir, New York: Random House, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 229

   1 more example

   A statement by the Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights (CLGR), which organized the protest, charged that WPIX's sale of air time to the Anita Bryant Ministries "is a sell-out of the more than one million lesbians and gay residents in the WPIX broadcast service area.

   1980 April 19, Philip Shehadi, “Bryant Program Sparks Protest”, in Gay Community News, page 3

2. idiomaticinformalA person who sells out, who compromises their principles for financial gain or some other advantage.

   The rock star used to be hardcore, but now he's just a sellout.

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   The nineties were not an age for the aspirant. The worst thing you could be was a sellout, and not because selling out involved money. Selling out meant you needed to be popular, and any explicit desire for approval was enough to prove you were terrible.

   2022, Chuck Klosterman, The Nineties, New York: Penguin Press, →ISBN

3. The selling of an entire stock of something, especially tickets for an entertainment or sports event.

   I performed in front of a sellout crowd.

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   Mel White recalls being a high school student and seeing Billy Graham preaching before sell-out crowds at San Francisco's Cow Palace.

   1994 October, Michael Bronski, “Queer and Present Danger: Gay Conservatives, Sex and the Christianization of the Gay Movement”, in Gay Community News, page 22