mainstream

American  

[meyn-streem] / ˈmeɪnˌstrim /

noun

1. the principal or dominant course, tendency, or trend.

   the mainstream of American culture.

2. a river having tributaries.

3. regular school classes or regular schools.

   keeping autistic students in the mainstream.

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adjective

1. belonging to or characteristic of a principal, dominant, or widely accepted group, movement, style, etc..

   mainstream Republicans;

   a mainstream artist;

   mainstream media.

2. of, relating to, or characteristic of jazz falling historically between Dixieland and modern jazz; specifically, swing music.

verb (used with object)

1. to send into the mainstream; cause to join the main force, group, etc..

   to mainstream young people into the labor force.

2. to place (students with disabilities) in regular school classes.

verb (used without object)

1. to join or be placed in the mainstream.

mainstream British  

/ ˈmeɪnˌstriːm /

noun

1. 1. the main current (of a river, cultural trend, etc)

      in the mainstream of modern literature

   2. ( as modifier )

      mainstream politics

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adjective

1. of or relating to the style of jazz that lies between the traditional and the modern

mainstream Cultural  

1. The prevailing current or direction of a movement or influence: “The candidate's speech represented the mainstream thinking on economic policy.”

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Etymology

Origin of mainstream

First recorded in 1660–70; main ¹ + stream

Explanation

Mainstream describes what's viewed by most people in a society as "normal," like the mainstream view that everyone should get married, move to the suburbs, and have children as soon as they can. Something that's mainstream is conventional, or the usual way of doing things. If you're talking about the mainstream in fashion, you mean the ordinary clothes that most people wear and which is found in all the malls — nothing too weird or outlandish. In the 1600s, mainstream described the prevailing current of a river, with the first recorded use of its meaning of prevailing taste or opinion in 1831.

Example Sentences

Within months, it entered the mainstream lexicon as a way to describe any AI-generated synthetic media that realistically clones a person’s image or voice.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

He has made it more mainstream to think outside what is regarded as the natural order of players and positions.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

As a result, these artists were outsiders within an outsider community, Thurston explained, people who didn’t quite fit into mainstream American culture or traditional Jewish life in America.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

One major question is whether the company's return to mainstream production has come too late.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

The mainstream media, however, treated the event as big news, and many pundits seemed surprised that the black congregants actually applauded the message.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander