an intense but short-lived fashion; craze
a personal idiosyncrasy or whim
1825–35; noun use of dial. fad to look after things, busy oneself with trifles, back formation from obsolete faddle to play with, fondle. See fiddle
If it’s all the rage, everybody’s into it, your parents don’t get it, and teenage girls across the globe are trying to outdo each other with it, it’s officially a fad. From hairstyles to hula hoops to saying “that’s hot,” fads are known to rise to crazed levels of popularity seemingly overnight. But they fade out just as fast, leaving late adopters with outdated sayings and some seriously uncool shoes. Much like a fad itself, no one has any real idea where this word came from. But it’s still in fashion some 144 years later.
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The company aims to pay out 75% to 80% of its FAD to shareholders each year in dividends—both regular and special—and stock repurchases, while boosting its base payout by 5% annually.
From Barron's • Dec. 5, 2025
Complex IV contains a membrane-bound enzyme that accepts electrons from FADH2 to make FAD.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Two hydrogen atoms are transferred to FAD, producing FADH2.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Their research groups found that both the third and fourth tryptophan radicals at the end of the chain are magnetically sensitive when paired with the FAD radical.
From Scientific American • Mar. 15, 2022
On one patrol with Baiei, we stopped at a FAD so that I could dive in for a closer look.
From New York Times • Feb. 17, 2016
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
