How to Use hard sell in a Sentence

hard sell

noun
  • Such an expensive project will be a hard sell during these slow economic times.
  • This is a hard sell for the straight-ahead thinking Paul.
    Bill Goodykoontz, Detroit Free Press, 29 Oct. 2021
  • At the time, with the hard sell in full gear, the idea of a timeshare makes complete sense.
    David Lazarus, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2019
  • That’s going to be a hard sell in the Ravens’ locker room.
    Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 4 Apr. 2023
  • With poultry prices up as much as 50% in the last month, his is a hard sell.
    Taylor Luck, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Apr. 2022
  • But Thomson finds that thinking a hard sell in the Bend area.
    OregonLive.com, 29 Oct. 2017
  • But these trucks cost more, making them a harder sell in the U.S.
    Erica E. Phillips, WSJ, 21 Sep. 2017
  • That’s a hard sell, no matter how pretty the camels are.
    Richard Hall, USA TODAY, 27 Jan. 2018
  • The spirit isn’t such a hard sell anymore, 14 years on.
    Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 23 Dec. 2021
  • But as the years passed and Corey didn’t get up from his chair, his vow became a hard sell.
    Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 22 Sep. 2021
  • Not all the changes have been hard sells in Saudi Arabia.
    Vivian Yee, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2020
  • All the shops are too successful to bother with the hard sell.
    Mary Kaye Schilling, Town & Country, 15 Sep. 2015
  • Front-wheel drive is a hard sell when there are rear-drive options.
    Dave Vanderwerp, Car and Driver, 29 Nov. 2021
  • Ron Popeil, who died in July at 86, perfected the art of the hard sell, the refuse-to-let-you-move-on.
    Rick Kogan, chicagotribune.com, 16 Dec. 2021
  • Staying away from hard sell might lure sponsors to the Big Game in the moment.
    Brian Steinberg, Variety, 27 June 2023
  • But since no cars are for sale at the show, there's little chance of getting a hard sell.
    Ronald Montoya, Edmunds, USA TODAY, 10 Feb. 2018
  • And then, there’s the reality of the market: small phones are a hard sell.
    Allison Johnson, The Verge, 20 Feb. 2024
  • Even for the angriest young Muslim man, this might be a bit of a hard sell.
    Audrey Kurth Cronin, Foreign Affairs, 18 Feb. 2015
  • That's a hard sell after Jan. 1, the installer of 10 years said.
    Emily Hopkins, Indianapolis Star, 5 Nov. 2017
  • The property, which opened eight years ago, was always a bit of a hard sell.
    Brittany Martin, Los Angeles Magazine, 20 Oct. 2017
  • For the less hardcore of the Thule searchers, however, Smøla-as-Thule has proved so far to be a hard sell.
    F. Salazar, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2020
  • The hard sell is not the best way to earn the interest and loyalty of your customers.
    Christena Garduno, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2021
  • The One was a hard sell, according to agents who toured the property.
    Katherine Clarke, WSJ, 28 July 2022
  • The antipodes and the South Pacific don't require a hard sell.
    Chloe Sachdev, Travel + Leisure, 8 Sep. 2021
  • That would have been a hard sell even if the Wolverines prevailed Wednesday.
    Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press, 1 Jan. 2020
  • And polishing up the image of the Saudis and Emiratis was a hard sell.
    NBC News, 21 May 2018
  • Lifting the indoor mask mandate in schools may be a hard sell in the District right now.
    Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2022
  • Pitch-black satire can be a hard sell, but the Academy often eats it up.
    Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 19 Mar. 2022
  • Such an agreement may be a hard sell in the United States, where politicians still peddle the myth of self-sufficiency.
    Philip Zelikow, Foreign Affairs, 21 June 2022
  • Hydropower is a finite resource without building new dams — a hard sell because of the impact on endangered salmon.
    Lulu Ramadan, ProPublica, 28 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hard sell.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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