Tentpole

//ˈtɛntˌpoʊl// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One of the poles used to hold up a tent.
  2. 2
    A large-scale entertainment production that is a major source of revenue for its studio, television network, or investors. US, attributive, figuratively

    "His [James Rolfe's] reasoning dances around the simple fact that has set this innocuous-seeming movie apart from its fellow blockbusters this summer—that it’s a tentpole genre film starring women."

Verb
  1. 1
    To schedule a popular programme between two newer or less popular ones in the hope that viewers will watch them.

Example

More examples

"His [James Rolfe's] reasoning dances around the simple fact that has set this innocuous-seeming movie apart from its fellow blockbusters this summer—that it’s a tentpole genre film starring women."

Etymology

From tent + pole.

Related phrases

tentpole filmtentpole movietentpole projecttentpole propertylarge scaletelevision network

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.