Mainstream
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 The principal current in a flow, such as a river or flow of air
- 2 the prevailing current of thought wordnet
- 3 That which is common; the norm. usually
"ideas outside of the mainstream"
- 1 To popularize, to normalize, to render mainstream. transitive
"Just as the gang peace movement desired to mainstream hardcore bangers into civic society, The Chronic wanted to drive hardcore rap into the popstream."
- 2 To become mainstream. intransitive
"In a nonchurch context, we can look more explicitly at formerly New Age practices to see if and how they have mainstreamed."
- 3 To educate (a disabled student) together with non-disabled students. US, transitive
"Despite these beliefs, the decision to send my son to a regular school was not made easily. I didn't know of any child as disabled as he who had been mainstreamed."
- 1 Used or accepted broadly rather than by small portions of population, market, scientific community, etc.
"They often carry stories you won't find in the mainstream media."
Example
More examples"Outside the mainstream of orthodox Judaism, the apocalyptic books were more successful with certain movements."
Etymology
From main + stream. Cognate with Icelandic meginstraumur (“a main current, mainstream”).
Related phrases
More for "mainstream"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.