one-hit wonder

See also: one hit wonder

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

one-hit wonder (plural one-hit wonders)

1. (idiomatic) A recording artist known for only one hit song, especially after failing at subsequent attempts at success.
   • 2003 September 21, Jon Caramanica, “Music: When Rap Sounds Anything but Urban”, in New York Times, retrieved 3 Aug. 2009:

     Eleven years ago, Arrested Development became one of Southern hip-hop's first crossover successes with “Tennessee,” a wistful, bohemian-influenced song about the scars of history. But the group was a one-hit wonder.

2. (idiomatic, by extension) A person or group known for achieving only a single major accomplishment.
   • 1990 February 19, S. C. Gwynne, “Two Sides of a Giant”, in Time:

     The European company is no one-hit wonder. The company has another best seller in its J-class car, sold as a Vauxhall Cavalier.

3. (marijuana subculture) An instance of getting high off the first hit.

Usage notes

• Sometimes refers to the song, rather than the musical artist.

Translations

musical performer

• Bulgarian: еднодневка f (ednodnevka)
• Dutch: eendagsvlieg (nl) m
• Finnish: yhden hitin ihme
• German: One-Hit-Wonder (de) n, musikalische Eintagsfliege f, Musiker mit kurzlebigem Erfolg m
• Japanese: 一発屋 (ja) (いっぱつや, ippatsuya)

person or group known for achieving only a single major accomplishment

• Bulgarian: еднодневка f (ednodnevka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 昙花一现 (zh) (tánhuāyīxiàn)

• Finnish: yhden hitin ihme
• German: One-Hit-Wonder (de) n
• Japanese: 一発屋 (ja) (いっぱつや, ippatsuya)

See also

• one-trick pony
• two-hit wonder
• no-hit wonder