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mainstream

noun · adjective · verb

Simple meaning

That which is common.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

maynstreem

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈmeɪnstɹim

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. usually with the

    That which is common; the norm.

  2. The principal current in a flow, such as a river or flow of air

adjective

  1. Used or accepted broadly rather than by small portions of population, market, scientific community, etc.

verb

  1. transitive

    To popularize, to normalize, to render mainstream.

  2. intransitive

    To become mainstream.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
General English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: That which is common; the norm.

Used this way, mainstream is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use mainstream

  • “His thinking was in the American mainstream.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

mainstream societymainstream cultureamerican mainstreammainstream pressmainstream economicsmainstream americamainstream schoolpolitical mainstream

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.