trendsetter

noun

trend·​set·​ter ˈtren(d)-ˌse-tər 

variants or less commonly trend-setter

plural trendsetters also trend-setters

: one that sets a trend : someone or something that starts or helps to popularize a new fashion, style, movement, etc.

a trendsetter in the fashion industry

Every ten years or so, for a different set of reasons each time, cultural trendsetters rally behind one musician with whom they sense a bond and who then comes to symbolize jazz to the mass media.

—Francis Davis

The county has become a trendsetter in other types of environmental legislation …

—Chemical & Engineering News

Synonyms

• leader
• pioneer

Examples of trendsetter in a Sentence

a closely watched trendsetter in women's fashions

Recent Examples on the Web

The polka dot manicure has been embraced by some of our fave nail trendsetters this summer, Cardi included. —Kara Nesvig, Allure, 7 July 2025

The sun shone on Friday as a chic crowd of fashion trendsetters took over Duryea’s in Montauk for a seaside lunch celebrating the new Riviera collection from fashion label Baobab. —Nancy Kane, New York Daily News, 18 June 2025

Instead, as Apple heads into this year’s showcase, the company faces nagging questions about whether the nearly 50-year-old company has lost some of the mystique and innovative drive that turned it into a tech trendsetter. —Michael Liedtke, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025

See all the action from glam chair to the greens below from the trendsetter herself. —Michelle Lee, People.com, 9 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for trendsetter

• abettor
• newsletter
• typesetter
• better
• bettor
• debtor
• fetter
• getter
• letter
• netter
• petar
• petter