herd mentality

noun

: the tendency of the people in a group to think and behave in ways that conform with others in the group rather than as individuals

Stock investors, riveted by recent market gyrations, need to resist emotional responses and the herd mentality when investing …—

Ken Schachter

Examples of herd mentality in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web And herd mentality is real in the VC community. —

Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 1 Mar. 2023 If someone wants to talk about how our industry’s herd mentality contributed to SVB’s fate, that’s only fair. —

Nihal Mehta, Fortune, 22 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'herd mentality.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of herd mentality was in 1920

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Herd mentality.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/herd%20mentality. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.

Copy Citation