fad

[fad]

noun

1. a temporary fashion, notion, manner of conduct, etc., especially one followed enthusiastically by a group.

   Synonyms: rage, vogue, craze

fad

¹

/ fæd /

noun

1. an intense but short-lived fashion; craze

2. a personal idiosyncrasy or whim

FAD

²

noun

1. biochem flavin adenine dinucleotide: an ester of riboflavin with ADP that acts as the prosthetic group for many flavoproteins See also FMN

Other Word Forms

• fadlike adjective
• faddist noun
• faddism noun
• faddish adjective
• faddishness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fad¹

1825–35; noun use of dial. fad to look after things, busy oneself with trifles, back formation from obsolete faddle to play with, fondle. See fiddle

Word History and Origins

Origin of fad¹

C19: of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

Aside from flatly contradicting the rational choice model, their action makes nonsense of the latest fad among Democratic Party operatives and ideologically aligned pundits, “abundance liberalism”: If we offer all kinds of goodies to the public, they will flock back to the Party of FDR.

From Salon

Event planner Vijay Arora, founder of Delhi-based Touchwood Events, believes fake weddings are currently a fad - but one with potential.

From BBC

“There’s still a lot of network executives that probably think YouTube’s a fad … the numbers are coming out and the data is showing that it’s not true, so they’re gonna have to catch up,” Kmiotek said.

From Los Angeles Times

Warner, the creator of Beanie Babies — the stuffed toys that became a huge fad in the late 1990s — was home at the time of the midday attack, according to a criminal complaint, but he was not hurt.

From Los Angeles Times

So is just a fad or will it stick around?

From BBC

Related Words

• hobby 
• innovation 
• mania 
• passion 
• trend