chiefly British, informal
: traditional
… had partaken of the trad British breakfast …—
Pamela Vandyke Price
Pamela Vandyke PriceShowcasing such trad virtues as live musicianship, brick-solid song structures and stylistic breadth, this is one sweet set.—Paul Evans
Paul Evans… ski and surf outfits, not just in the dumb old trad black, either.—Bernice Peck
Bernice PeckExamples of trad in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Broadly, Love Is Blind seems to be pushing conservative ideals—trad wives, divorce shaming, and big families even when contestants clearly aren’t enthusiastic about the idea of having kids.
—Manisha Krishnan, Wired News, 27 Feb. 2026
From trad wives to spin classes to caregiving, Smithuijsen reveals how late stage capitalism strips women of agency and traps them in endless cycles of empty consumption and thankless labor.
—Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
First was a simple, trad-style aesthetic.
—Riley Jones, Footwear News, 16 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile, in Chicago, Abdullah Abbasi has leveraged his trad son lifestyle into a business.
—Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 26 Oct. 2025
Social media algorithms have seen phenomena like the trad wife, the sorority girl, or the conservative hot girl, all of which are associated with right-wing political ideologies, gain recognition in recent years as critics argue that feminism and feminist figures have seemed to lose popularity.
—Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Oct. 2025
So no, Taylor Swift is not going to become a trad wife.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 7 Oct. 2025
The rubes in the trad lobby have been snookered—though their final betrayal is yet to come.
—Ian Volner, Artforum, 28 May 2025
The controversial nature of trad wives adds to the intrigue around Patriarchy Hannah.
—Charles Trepany, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Manisha Krishnan, Wired News, 27 Feb. 2026
From trad wives to spin classes to caregiving, Smithuijsen reveals how late stage capitalism strips women of agency and traps them in endless cycles of empty consumption and thankless labor.
—Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026
First was a simple, trad-style aesthetic.
—Riley Jones, Footwear News, 16 Dec. 2025
Meanwhile, in Chicago, Abdullah Abbasi has leveraged his trad son lifestyle into a business.
—Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 26 Oct. 2025
Social media algorithms have seen phenomena like the trad wife, the sorority girl, or the conservative hot girl, all of which are associated with right-wing political ideologies, gain recognition in recent years as critics argue that feminism and feminist figures have seemed to lose popularity.
—Marni Rose McFall, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Oct. 2025
So no, Taylor Swift is not going to become a trad wife.
—Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 7 Oct. 2025
The rubes in the trad lobby have been snookered—though their final betrayal is yet to come.
—Ian Volner, Artforum, 28 May 2025
The controversial nature of trad wives adds to the intrigue around Patriarchy Hannah.
—Charles Trepany, USA TODAY, 27 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trad.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trad. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
