trend
Americannoun
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trends
plural
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the general course or prevailing tendency; drift.
trends in the teaching of foreign languages; the trend of events.
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style or vogue.
the new trend in women's apparel.
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the general direction followed by a road, river, coastline, or the like.
verb (used without object)
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trends,
present (3rd person singular)
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trended,
past participle, past
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trending
present participle
-
to have a general tendency, as events, conditions, etc.
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to tend to take a particular direction; extend in some direction indicated.
-
to emerge as a popular trend; be currently popular.
words that have trended this year.
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Digital Technology. to be widely mentioned or discussed on the internet, especially in posts on social media websites.
news stories that are trending online.
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to veer or turn off in a specified direction, as a river, mountain range, etc..
The river trends toward the southeast.
noun
-
general tendency or direction
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fashion; mode
verb
Synonym Usage
See tendency.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
trendsimple
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trendssimple
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have trendedperfect
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has trendedperfect
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am trendingprogressive
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are trendingprogressive
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is trendingprogressive
-
have been trendingperfect progressive
-
has been trendingperfect progressive
Past
-
trendedsimple
-
had trendedperfect
-
was trendingprogressive
-
were trendingprogressive
-
had been trendingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing trend
The Scientific Method
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The Catcher in the Rye
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Word Generation Science - Introductory Chemistry Concepts
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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:
This trend is expected to continue this year.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
A subdued inflation report on Wednesday, alongside a deal to reopen Hormuz, could “feed through into lower gasoline prices and keep the disinflation trend in place through to year-end and beyond.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Employment in the financial activities sector continued its downward trend, having lost 121,000 jobs from its May 2025 peak.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
On Thursday, Michigan officials said the state’s data now suggests that, “new cyclosporiasis case reports are slowing, including a downward trend in diarrhea-related emergency department visits.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
To a greater extent than a human in a similar gathering, each rabbit, as he pursued his own fragment, was sensitive to the trend of the whole.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
Chipotle executives said traffic trends had softened through the latter half of last month in the wake of the cyclospora scare, but the company still raised its full-year sales forecast.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
"A lot of it has to do with macro trends," he says.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
As with other food trends, social media has fueled the appetite for extravagant hot dogs—part of what you’re paying for is the ability to show it off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
While Wednesday morning Google search trends data showed that people were hunting for images of Hilton, I went to YouTube to see what he was up to in 2002.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
After all, why shouldn’t our styles be seen as equal to the latest trends from Europe, instead of mere curiosities?
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
The measure, which policymakers closely watch as a gauge of underlying inflation, has remained above 2% since September 2025 and has trended higher in recent months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Recently, shares have trended between a 74.4 RSI rating at the beginning of the month to its current rating.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Fasting blood glucose trended downward across groups, and several lipid related measures also improved.
From Science Daily ● May 31, 2026
Standardized test scores have trended upward since the nadir of the COVID-19 pandemic, recovering faster than the state average, but the pace remains too incremental for critics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 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
Receiver isn’t the only position at which the Trojans are trending young.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
Greggs's pivot towards healthier products and trending drinks has helped it boost sales, with the bakery chain reporting a 20% rise in profit over the first half of the year.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
At the same time, they say U.S. recreational-vehicle inventories are still trending upwards from cyclical lows of the past two fiscal years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Meanwhile, momentum measures, such as the relative-strength index, have been trending lower, forming a series of lower highs and lower lows.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
We’re a trending story on Twitter—probably Facebook, too.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
