fad
noun
a temporary fashion, notion, manner of conduct, etc., especially one followed enthusiastically by a group.
fad
American
[fad]
/ fæd /
noun
-
fads
plural
fad
1
British
/ fæd /
noun
-
an intense but short-lived fashion; craze
-
a personal idiosyncrasy or whim
FAD
2
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of fad
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
Explanation
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 But they fade out just as fast, leaving late adopters with outdated sayings and some seriously uncool shoes.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.
Vocabulary lists containing fad
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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:
Now, with royalty streams from two approved drugs and a pipeline built on its platform for engineering gut-stable peptides, Protagonist may have a business that outlasts the current fad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
The move towards coolcations appears to be more than just a fad.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
“There’s no special reason they should be allowed to bypass the standard clinical trial system just because there’s a peptide fad driven by wellness influencers and telehealth firms.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
“If raw milk was a fad or a lie, then why would people repeatedly buy raw milk and then tell the world how they love it,” he said.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
“I don’t think you can call it a fad if it’s changed the way we live,” Molly says, then smiles contritely, aware that she’s already gotten herself into a disagreement with her potential boss.
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
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
Two hydrogen atoms are transferred to FAD, producing FADH2.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
The enzymes respond most often to the levels of the available nucleosides ATP, ADP, AMP, NAD+, and FAD.
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
The FAD was low-tech and anchored, just a plastic buoy attached to a thick, mollusk-coated rope tethered to the ocean floor more than 500 feet below.
From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2016
Author Matilda Gosling, who wrote Evidence‑Based Parenting, says many of the parenting fads or trends complicate what should be a straightforward relationship between a parent and child.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Digital journalism is as subject to fads as any other medium.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
We have the opposite problem — mountains of rigorous scientific evidence, drowned out by noisy advice, marketing, and fads.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 21, 2026
Jamaican musical fads and Jamaican sound systems became permanent British presences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
It’s bad enough my clothes don’t match with the latest fads, but wearing high-waters is considered social suicide in middle school.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
