b-movie
UK[ˈbiː muːvi]US[ˈbiː ˌmuːvi]
n
A low-budget commercial movie, often of a genre like horror or science fiction, not intended as a main feature.
Morpheme Breakdown
b
movie
b
movie
Etymology
The term 'B-movie' originates from the Hollywood studio system of the 1930s and 1940s, where it referred to the secondary, lower-budget film in a double feature. The 'B' directly derives from the alphabetic grading scale, where 'A' signifies the primary, high-quality product and 'B' denotes the supporting, less prestigious one. The word 'movie' is a shortening of 'moving picture,' which itself evolved from the description of the technology. Thus, the compound term 'B-movie' logically combines a quality classifier with the medium to define a specific category of filmmaking based on its economic and artistic position within the industry.
Analysis
Structure: b + movie
b: English (Letter), a grading or classification label indicating secondary quality.
movie: English (Noun), short for 'moving picture'; a film.
Examples
The film festival had a special midnight screening of classic sci-fi B-movies.
Despite its low budget, the B-movie developed a cult following over the years.
Many famous directors started their careers by making B-movies.