Meaning & use
trendy
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Following the newest fashion or popular idea, and so appealing to people who like to be up to date.
Grammar: Comparable: trendier, trendiest; it can come before a noun or after a linking verb.
Patterns
- a trendy place
- trendy among young people
They opened a trendy cafe near the university.
Wide-leg jeans are very trendy this year.
Her trendy haircut got a lot of compliments.
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Popular for a short time only, in a way that seems shallow or follows the crowd without real value.
Grammar: Used critically and often with an implied contrast: trendy rather than lasting.
I think the diet is just trendy, not healthy.
The slogan sounded trendy, but it had no real meaning.
He dismissed the style as trendy and not worth the price.
Word forms
| comparative | trendier |
|---|---|
| superlative | trendiest |
Common combinations
- a trendy restaurant
- We booked a table at a trendy restaurant downtown.
- trendy clothes
- She likes trendy clothes, but she can't afford them.
- ultra-trendy
- The ultra-trendy club had a long queue outside.
- a trendy neighborhood
- Rents rose when the area became a trendy neighborhood.
- trendy among teenagers
- The game is trendy among teenagers right now.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fashionable
- Fashionable is neutral and often positive, while trendy can hint that the popularity will not last.
- stylish
- Stylish focuses on elegance and good taste, not on following the latest craze.
- hip
- Hip is slangier and suggests being in the know, whereas trendy is about fitting the latest trend.
- cool
- Cool is a general, modern word of approval, while trendy refers more specifically to current fashion.
Opposites
Word family
- trend noun
- a general direction of change or a current fashion
- trendiness noun
- the quality of being trendy
- trendily adverb
- in a trendy way
- trendsetter noun
- someone who starts a new fashion
Commonly confused: trendy or trending?
trendy vs trending
Trending describes a topic that is currently being widely shared online, while trendy describes a style that is fashionable.
Practice
The restaurant is very ______, but the food is nothing special once the novelty fades.
Choose one answer.
Trendy describes something fashionable for now, which fits the suggestion that the novelty will fade. Traditional would mean the opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trendy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.