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 of trendsetter

• leader
• pioneer

Examples of trendsetter in a Sentence

a closely watched trendsetter in women's fashions

Recent Examples on the Web

Hailey Bieber has more than earned her credentials as a nail trendsetter. — Amanda Le, InStyle, 7 Aug. 2026

The issue features tributes to decade-defining movies like Pulp Fiction, Thelma & Louise, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Reality Bites, Pretty Woman and Beauty and the Beast, plus how supermodels became the true trendsetters of the ‘90s. — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 3 Aug. 2026

Now, the charitable trendsetter is giving millions to support the youth mental health crisis. — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 9 July 2026

Since the beginning of her career, Cyrus has been lauded as a style mogul, a trendsetter — someone who uses fashion to epitomize her identity, whichever one that may be. — Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 22 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for trendsetter

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