What does trendy mean?
Trendy means fashionable, especially in a way that reflects the latest styles, tastes, or cultural fashions. It is usually used of clothes, restaurants, design, music, places, or ideas, and it often implies that popularity is temporary rather than enduring. The word can be approving, as when a shop describes a new look as trendy, but it is also commonly dismissive, suggesting that something is fashionable chiefly because it is newly popular and may soon be forgotten. Although “trendy” is informal and is used in both British and American English, it is established in ordinary speech rather than limited to a narrow region. It is particularly useful when a speaker wants to distinguish a current popular style from something genuinely classic or long-lasting. As a rare noun, a trendy is a fashion-conscious person, a use now dated and associated especially with youth culture.
In the latest style or fashion; currently popular.
"They opened a trendy café downtown."
Often used before nouns such as fashion, restaurant, look, or design, and frequently carries the implication of short-lived popularity.
A person who is fashionable or conspicuously follows current trends.
"The magazine photographed several young trendies outside the club."
The plural is rare and now sounds dated; it is more natural in references to groups of fashionable or trend-conscious young people.
"The trendies arrived at the event in brightly coordinated outfits."
“Trendy” turns the noun trend into a quick verdict: whatever is popular right now.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does trendy come from?
The adjective trendy was formed in the early 20th century by adding the suffix -y to trend, a word borrowed into English from French and ultimately from Latin tendere, “to stretch or extend.” Its modern fashion sense follows the general sense of trend as a prevailing direction of change in fashion or culture. Its Latin ancestry also links it to tend, tendency, and tension, although trendy itself now chiefly means currently fashionable.
Related word forms
How trendy is actually used
Informal to neutral in everyday description, but often slightly critical, implying temporary popularity. The rare noun meaning a fashionable person is dated and associated especially with youth and fashion culture.
Easily confused with trendy
A trend is a general direction of change, while trendy describes something that follows current fashions or cultural trends.