trend

[trend]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR trend ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the general course or prevailing tendency; drift: trends in the teaching of foreign languages; the trend of events.

style or vogue: the new trend in women's apparel.

the general direction followed by a road, river, coastline, or the like.

verb (used without object)

to have a general tendency, as events, conditions, etc.

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.

Digital Technology. to be widely mentioned or discussed on the Internet, especially in posts on social media websites: news stories that are trending online.

to veer or turn off in a specified direction, as a river, mountain range, etc.: The river trends toward the southeast.

Origin of trend

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

Related formscoun·ter·trend, nounsub·trend, noun

Synonyms for trend

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR trend ON THESAURUS.COM

5. stretch, run, incline.

Synonym study

1. See tendency.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for trends

direction, tendency, movement, thing, bearing, run, bent, progression, orientation, tenor, drift, swing, aim, course, bias, leaning, wind, inclination, look, rage

Examples from the Web for trends

Contemporary Examples of trends

The CAP paper estimates that if current trends continue unabated, overtime pay will disappear entirely by 2026.
It’s Always Black Friday for Clerks
Michael Tomasky
November 28, 2014
These trends will affect everything from geography to culture and politics.
Trustafarians Want to Tell You How to Live
Joel Kotkin
October 31, 2014
In the coming decades, these trends could grow, particularly as economic and population growth slow.
Trustafarians Want to Tell You How to Live
Joel Kotkin
October 31, 2014
Supporters of the president argue these trends are inevitable and the Stimulus made a terrible situation better.
What the GOP Will Do If It Wins Congress
Stuart Stevens
October 3, 2014
From the refined attire at Lincoln Center to the avant-garde dress downtown, we spotted many of the big 2014 trends.
New York Fashion Week's Style on the Streets
Sara Sayed
September 11, 2014

Historical Examples of trends

I stood on the high coast of Kepler Land where it trends southward.
The Blindman's World
Edward Bellamy
They were first thought of by historians as tendencies and trends.
Introduction to the Science of Sociology
Robert E. Park
These two trends are not mutually exclusive as is widely and erroneously believed.
After the Rain
Sam Vaknin
The trends are global, the reaction is world-wide because the problem is global.
After the Rain
Sam Vaknin
But if Western trends are anything to go by, this is a temporary state of affairs.
After the Rain
Sam Vaknin

British Dictionary definitions for trends

trend

noun

general tendency or direction

fashion; mode

verb (intr)

to take a certain trend

Word Origin for trend

Old English trendan to turn; related to Middle Low German trenden

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for trends

trend

1590s, "to run or bend in a certain direction" (of rivers, coasts, etc.), from Middle English trenden "to roll about, turn, revolve," from Old English trendan, from Proto-Germanic *trandijanan (cf. Old English trinde "round lump, ball," Old Frisian trind, Middle Low German trint "round," Middle Low German trent "ring, boundary," Dutch trent "circumference," Danish trind "round"); origin and connections outside Germanic uncertain. Sense of "have a general tendency" (used of events, opinions, etc.) is first recorded 1863, from the nautical sense. Related: Trended; trending.

trend

"the way something bends" (coastline, mountain range, etc.), 1777, from trend (v.); sense of "general tendency" is from 1884.