mainstream

1 of 3

noun

main·​stream ˈmān-ˌstrēm How to pronounce mainstream (audio)
: a prevailing current or direction of activity or influence
mainstream adjective

mainstream

2 of 3

adjective

main·​stream
: having, reflecting, or being compatible with the prevailing attitudes and values of a society or group
mainstream media
movies that appeal to a mainstream audience
mainstream success

mainstream

3 of 3

verb

main·​stream ˈmān-ˈstrēm How to pronounce mainstream (audio)
mainstreamed; mainstreaming; mainstreams

transitive verb

1
: to place (a student, such as a disabled child) in regular school classes
2
: to incorporate in the mainstream

Examples of mainstream in a Sentence

Verb The poor should be mainstreamed into the private health-insurance system. Ideas that were once controversial have now become mainstreamed.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Their plucky abrasiveness might rub against mainstream sensibilities, but The Gutter — like an early Paul Beatty novel — seems destined to be a cult classic. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Mar. 2024 The drug is going mainstream as an anti-aging treatment, even though rapamycin’s regulatory approval is for treating transplant patients. Daniel Gilbert, Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2024 The discussions also homed in on how to combat the rise in encrypted data flows, how to target larger mainstream messaging apps and what to do about services like VPNs that can get around blocks. Aaron Krolik, New York Times, 15 Mar. 2024 Google was just one of several mainstream search engines, not yet a monopolistic empire. Steffi Cao, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024 Crypto is the rising tide that floats all boats Robinhood was one of the first mainstream companies to enable cryptocurrency trading on its platform (a retail brokerage app) and launched crypto wallets for traders. Vinamrata Chaturvedi, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024 Despite the fact that Mexico shares a border with the U.S., few Mexican artists — much less ones making música mexicana — have blown up in the pop mainstream this way. Julyssa Lopez, Rolling Stone, 11 Mar. 2024 At mainstream institutions, Native students often lack of sense of belonging on campus and don’t feel represented by their faculty. Emma Hall, Sacramento Bee, 8 Mar. 2024 Funny-autocratic functions better in a society like that of the US, where the boundaries of acceptable insult are still shifting and mainstream hate-mongering still has to be light on its feet. Seyward Darby, Longreads, 7 Mar. 2024
Adjective
As images generated and altered by AI go mainstream, communications experts tell Fortune’s Sydney Lake, people will have to accept a new and unreliable reality. Nick Rockel, Fortune, 15 Mar. 2024 Accepting that her form of art would never reconcile with mainstream Black culture. Janay Kingsberry, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2024 There have been many mainstream movies of late taking on the anxiety and impact of being an immigrant in the United States. The Arizona Republic, 14 Mar. 2024 Opinion Op-Ed: Why misogynists like Andrew Tate are going mainstream Jan. 8, 2023 The Tate brothers, who are dual British-U.S. citizens, and the two Romanian suspects were detained in late December in Bucharest. Nardine Saad, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2024 The ceremony will cap one of the buzziest years for mainstream movies in recent memory. Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 8 Mar. 2024 Obviously the ’60s was a very political time, and leftist politics were very mainstream and guided the counterculture. Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Mar. 2024 Circularity is not yet mainstream, after all, and marketing circular offerings requires leaders to focus on getting the message through that the advantages of circularity go beyond the environmental ones. Carmen Ene, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 This came on the heels of the Israeli government attempting to organize their own distribution of aid into northern Gaza, after having spent most of the last two months blocking the U.N. and other aid organizations from doing more mainstream deliveries there. Elena Burnett, NPR, 6 Mar. 2024
Verb
Long an anathema to mainstream politicians, Mr. Wilders has been at the center of coalition negotiations in the months since his decisive election victory in November. Claire Moses, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2024 Such questions exploded from Reddit threads and tabloid pages to mainstream news outlets last month when William cited personal matters as his reason for missing the funeral of his late godfather, King Constantine of Greece. Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2024 If the sports app really is a nascent sports-betting venture—still a big if—that would be the final confirmation of gambling’s acceptance into mainstream American culture, and a move that would mainstream gambling even more. Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 2 Mar. 2024 This system, although not mainstream in the United States, makes for much longer-lasting carts and fewer wobbly wheels. Eva Rothenberg, CNN, 17 Feb. 2024 Prisoners launched director Denis Villeneuve to mainstream prominence, offering a tricky mystery that grows increasingly intense as the characters’ beliefs and morals are pushed to their limits. Danny Horn, EW.com, 4 Jan. 2024 Now, Ezra has announced a fresh $21 million in venture funding to take full-body scans mainstream. Rashi Shrivastava, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2024 The pair started dating sometime around 2017 before Lil Durk rose to mainstream fame with notable collaborations. Kaitlin Stevens, Peoplemag, 3 Feb. 2024 Going from off-Broadway productions to mainstream success in a comic book film was a polarizing topic for some in his circle, namely, for his father, Franklin D'Olier Reeve. Marisa Sullivan, Peoplemag, 23 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mainstream.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1599, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1955, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1974, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mainstream was in 1599

Dictionary Entries Near mainstream

Cite this Entry

“Mainstream.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mainstream. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mainstream

noun
main·​stream
-ˌstrēm
: the principal current or direction of activity or influence

Medical Definition

mainstream

adjective
main·​stream ˌmān-ˌstrēm How to pronounce mainstream (audio)
: relating to or being tobacco smoke that is drawn (as from a cigarette) directly into the mouth of the smoker and is usually inhaled into the lungs compare sidestream

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