What it means
A trendsetter is the one who's wearing it, doing it or saying it months before everyone else catches on, the friend whose random new habit somehow becomes what the whole group does by spring. They don't follow the wave, they start it, often without even trying. Half the time they've moved on by the time the trend goes mainstream.
Usage examples
"She's a total trendsetter, half the office copied her haircut within a month."
"He was wearing those before anyone, a proper trendsetter."
Where it comes from
A compound of trend and setter, the person who sets the trend rather than following it. It spread with fashion and pop culture through the twentieth century.
Editors of this term
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