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

This positions you as a trendsetter with a point of view. —Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025

Now, imagine a similar top with the capri trousers fashion editors and trendsetters can't stop raving about. —Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 1 Sep. 2025

Since creating the Kith brand 14 years ago, the company has become a perennial favorite of young trendsetters and sneakerheads. —Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 11 Aug. 2025

Garcia said both were trendsetters and independent women ahead of their time. —Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 8 Aug. 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