Word.ws English Dictionary

sleeper hit

sleeper hit noun: a work of entertainment that becomes successful only some time after its launch.

Noun

sleeper hit (plural sleeper hits)

  1. A work of entertainment that becomes successful only some time after its launch.
    • It could be argued that there is no such thing as a 'sleeper' hit. It is industry terminology for a film which becomes a big success, despite having seemingly little promotion, and which plays successfully for a long time period, without having a record-breaking opening, or a run at the top of the...2008, John Berra, Declarations of independence : american cinema and the partiality of independent production
    • The record would be a minor hit in the U.S. (#49) but would, in time, become one of the most familiar songs of the decade. A 'sleeper' hit. It would not touch the UK charts at all.2005, George Gimarc, Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide To Underground Rock, 1970-1982

Forms of sleeper hit

pluralsleeper hits

Questions about sleeper hit

What does sleeper hit mean?
Sleeper hit means a work of entertainment that becomes successful only some time after its launch.
What part of speech is sleeper hit?
Sleeper hit is a noun.
What is the plural of sleeper hit?
The plural of sleeper hit is sleeper hits.

Words near sleeper hit in the dictionary

  1. sleeper cabs
  2. sleeper cell
  3. sleeper cells
  4. sleeper effect
  5. sleeper effects
  6. sleeper hit
  7. sleeper hits
  8. sleeper hold
  9. sleeper holds
  10. sleeper pick
  11. sleeper shark

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sleeper hit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “sleeper hit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sleeper_hit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.