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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The ACT Science Test: The Scientific Method
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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:
And could this be the beginning of a broader trend in tech?
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
However, Northern Ireland-wide statistics show a rising trend in usage over the past six years.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
The trend is your friend until it ends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
“The trend also highlights the generational transfer of wealth that is starting to occur among the silent generation and baby boomers into the pockets of the next generation,” she added.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
Some colleges, worried about the trend, are adopting programs to enroll more lower-income students.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
A New York Times analysis of 2026 midterm trends shows that 91 percent of Black voters supported Democrats—a considerably higher amount than that of any other racial group.
From Slate ● Nov. 5, 2026
“Encouragingly, overall Mobility growth trends improved in October,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says in prepared remarks, noting the company is confident it can return its mobility unit to more consistent year-over-year growth in 4Q.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
“Relative to last year, our market share, sales, and volume trends are improving in every region,” Cahillane said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
If there’s a takeaway here, it is that underlying economic and business trends tend to have a far greater bearing on markets than politics.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
Hence physicists and chemists can formulate universal deterministic laws at the macroscopic level, but biologists and historians can formulate only statistical trends.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
According to a tracker published by the industry reference guide MIMS, the average number of drugs in short supply in the UK has trended upward this year, external.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
Over recent quarters, Swartz said, investors seemed more willing to embrace a bit more pain, and the stock occasionally trended higher over the spring and summer.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 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
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
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
Overall totals are trending a little lower, but there is still a fair amount of uncertainty in the exact storm track, so we have a 20% chance for double or half these amounts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
Jay Ritter, director of the IPO Initiative at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, told MarketWatch that roadshows have been trending shorter because many potential investors have already seen “testing-the-waters” or fundraising presentations.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
CEO departures are trending lower this year compared to 2025, according to new data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Already trending upwards over the past two campaigns, there has been a genuine goals boom in this year's competition.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 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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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
