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

More than half of the states have had female governors, but California, a trendsetter in so many respects, is not among them. —Laurel Rosenhall, New York Times, 1 May 2025

Ever the trendsetter, the singer was also early to the leopard print revival. —Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 30 Apr. 2025

Christian Siriano and Nina Garcia are both returning to the franchise, alongside new judge and fashion trendsetter Law Roach, Disney announced Monday. —Nick Caruso, TVLine, 24 Mar. 2025

Philosophers and trendsetters alike can book appointments online to visit. —Alia Yee Noll, Los Angeles Times, 1 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