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Bandwagon
01
a large ornate wagon for carrying a musical band
Grammatical Information
Animacy status
Inanimate
Composition
Compound
Countable
Plural form
bandwagons
02
a popular trend or movement that people join mainly because it is fashionable
Slang
What does "bandwagon" mean in trend and social behavior slang?
The term "bandwagon" refers to a popular trend, opinion, or movement that people join primarily because it is popular, rather than because of independent reasoning or conviction. The structure comes from the literal "bandwagon," a wagon that carried a musical band in parades, later used metaphorically to describe people "jumping on" popular causes. It is informal slang often used critically to suggest conformity or opportunism in following trends.
Examples
Everyone's talking about that show; it's a total bandwagon.
Lexical Tree
bandwagon
band
wagon
