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Synonyms

trend

American  
[trend] / trɛnd /

noun

  • trends
    plural
  1. the general course or prevailing tendency; drift.

    trends in the teaching of foreign languages; the trend of events.

  2. style or vogue.

    the new trend in women's apparel.

  3. the general direction followed by a road, river, coastline, or the like.


verb (used without object)

  • trends,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • trended,
    past participle,  past
  • trending
    present participle
  1. to have a general tendency, as events, conditions, etc.

  2. to tend to take a particular direction; extend in some direction indicated.

    Synonyms:
    incline, run, stretch
  3. to emerge as a popular trend; be currently popular.

    words that have trended this year.

  4. Digital Technology. to be widely mentioned or discussed on the internet, especially in posts on social media websites.

    news stories that are trending online.

  5. to veer or turn off in a specified direction, as a river, mountain range, etc..

    The river trends toward the southeast.

trend British  
/ trɛnd /

noun

  1. general tendency or direction

  2. fashion; mode

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to take a certain trend

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See tendency.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of trend

First recorded before 1000; Middle English trenden “to turn, roll,” Old English trendan; akin to Old English trinde “ball,” Dutch trent “circumference,” Swedish trind “round;” see trindle, trundle

Explanation

A trend is what's hip or popular at a certain point in time. While a trend usually refers to a certain style in fashion or entertainment, there could be a trend toward warmer temperatures (if people are following trends associated with global warming). A trend simply reflects what seems to be going around at any given time. A trend can be in any area and doesn't only reflect fashion, pop culture and entertainment. There can also be a trend in the stock market to be bullish or bearish, depending on economic indicators, or a political trend reflecting a nation’s current mood. Some trends are fun, some fabulous, some appalling, but however long they last, you can be sure there will always be a new trend coming along to replace the old.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing trend

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

During another good year for the stock market, a trend has been reversed.

From MarketWatch Sep. 22, 2026

There’s also a trend toward replacing service workers with technology, making it harder to get shift work, they noted.

From MarketWatch Sep. 22, 2026

Ms. Eralp, the daughter of Turkish immigrants, has tried to resist this trend within her party, and members of Die Linke sometimes are themselves targets of antisemitic abuse.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 21, 2026

Whether your preference is melon, tangerine, ginger or coral - orange appears to be the big colour trend for next year.

From BBC Sep. 21, 2026

The trend line pointed to a future of intense and expensive competition among academic institutions to be first with high-priced research apparatus.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

The group’s vacation segment looks set to make a strong start to fiscal 2027, while last-minute booking trends continue in the airline segment due to geopolitical and economic uncertainty, TUI said.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 22, 2026

The emergence of a new kind of online shopper, using these sites and willing to pay luxury prices for used pieces, has become so prominent that it is sometimes outshining the freshest runway trends.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 19, 2026

The retailer has been focusing on "newer styles and relevant trends" to attract younger customers, says Illis.

From BBC Sep. 18, 2026

But they estimated those trends represented a roughly 8% drop from the same period in 2023, after adjusting for a password-sharing crackdown and geographical mix.

From MarketWatch Sep. 18, 2026

Will the trends that have reinforced class lines while papering over the distinctions persist?

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Versions of it soon trended online, with users adding edits and jokes and mocking the lighting and camera angles in his video.

From BBC Aug. 21, 2026

Housing prices in London have trended lower over the past year thanks to higher interest rates, but the lack of new supply is keeping prices higher than they should be.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 20, 2026

Much of Tesla’s sales growth is tied to Europe, where sales have trended stronger in recent months.

From MarketWatch Jul. 2, 2026

Fasting blood glucose trended downward across groups, and several lipid related measures also improved.

From Science Daily May 31, 2026

Still, Penelope convinced herself that the havoc trended in one direction slightly more so than in the other.

From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood

In essence, the ratio has formed a local minimum on its chart and is now trending upward.

From MarketWatch Sep. 18, 2026

Latest price movements show weak momentum, in line with the relative strength index, which is trending horizontally, the analyst says.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 11, 2026

Carolina added pieces and is trending up after a strong finish.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 9, 2026

It has now found a new audience by trending on TikTok, generating more than 500 million views from about 650,000 videos posted in the UK over the summer, according to the platform.

From BBC Sep. 1, 2026

This was the only way we knew which American songs were trending.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

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