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

• bellwether
• leader
• pacemaker
• pacer
• pacesetter

Examples of trendsetter in a Sentence

a closely watched trendsetter in women's fashions

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead of idolizing sitcom trendsetters, many emulate lifestyle creators who promote capsule wardrobes, skincare routines, and age-appropriate yet refined looks. —Dia Gallo, Parents, 17 June 2025

From durable veteran to blazing trendsetter, there’s a music documentary for that. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 5 June 2025

That development came on the seventh day of testimony in the headline-grabbing case that has pulled back the curtain on the private life of a man who had been a music and cultural trendsetter for more than a generation. —Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 21 May 2025

The hosts included the actress Rowan Blanchard, the left-wing podcasters of Chapo Trap House and the owners of the artsy Lower East Side boutique Café Forgot — a cross section of celebrities, niche media figures and Lower Manhattan trendsetters devised to draw out other cliquish culture makers. —Joseph Bernstein, New York Times, 17 May 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