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 But they fade out just as fast, leaving late adopters with outdated sayings and some seriously uncool shoes.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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The Friendship War
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Bad Boy
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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:
“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
Traditional distillers, who like to build brands for the long-term, could invest heavily in RTDs only for the fad to pass in a few years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 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 am disheartened by the merely contemporary and hence indifferent to every fad.
From MarketWatch ● May 13, 2026
He was the first kid in the class to be onto a new fad or get a new gadget.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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
The enzymes respond most often to the levels of the available nucleosides ATP, ADP, AMP, NAD+, and FAD.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
The net result is a radical pair made of a negatively charged FAD radical in the center of the protein and, two nanometers away, a positively charged tryptophan radical at the surface of the protein.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 15, 2022
They have limited trawling, put caps on FAD numbers and imposed rules to limit ‘‘bycatch,’’ the unwanted species caught in the hunt for prized fish.
From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2016
Unlike other pandemic fads such as recreational vehicles, interest in golf has kept growing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
Some also say Americans — as in the case of previous health fads — run the risk of overdoing it.
From MarketWatch ● May 10, 2026
Many parents feel they're struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing fads and trends on social media.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
But unlike flash-in-the-pan fads, this one may have staying power.
From Slate ● Jan. 27, 2026
This may be one reason we have so many diet fads in this country.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
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.
