ENGLISH
REFERENCE

sell

n. countable
A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈsɛɫ// UK //sˈɛl// sell Archaic Dialect General-service Informal Slang

n. the act of convincing someone to buy or believe in something. It is often used to describe how easy or difficult it is to get someone to agree to an idea.

n. the act or process of selling, or a specific instance of persuasion. Often used in business contexts to describe the difficulty of gaining acceptance for a proposal or product.


SIMPLE

The new software was an easy sell to the team.

CONTEXTUAL

Convincing the board to increase the marketing budget was a tough sell, but the data eventually won them over.

COMPLEX

While the technical merits of the project were clear, the high initial cost made it a difficult sell for the risk-averse investors.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Usage

Commonly used in the idiomatic phrases 'easy sell' or 'hard sell' to describe the level of effort required to persuade someone.

Idioms14 entries

© 2026 English Reference