Word.ws English Dictionary

Lindy effect

Lindy effect proper noun: the hypothesized phenomenon that the future life expectancy of certain nonperishable things (such as a technology or an idea) is proportional to their current age, so that every additional period of survival implies a longer remaining life expectancy.

Proper noun

the Lindy effect

  1. The hypothesized phenomenon that the future life expectancy of certain nonperishable things (such as a technology or an idea) is proportional to their current age, so that every additional period of survival implies a longer remaining life expectancy.
    • Let me warn the reader: while the Lindy effect is one of the most useful, robust, and universal heuristics I know, Lindy's cheesecake is… much less distinguished. Odds are the deli will not survive, by the Lindy effect.2018, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, chapter 8, in Skin in the Game, Penguin, →ISBN

Origin of Lindy effect

In reference to Lindy's delicatessen in New York, where comedians would meet to discuss showbusiness. This was discussed in "Lindy's Law", a 1964 article by Albert Goldman in The New Republic. Goldman described a folkloric belief that the amount of material comedians have is constant, and therefore the frequency of output predicts how long their series will last.

Questions about Lindy effect

What does Lindy effect mean?
Lindy effect means the hypothesized phenomenon that the future life expectancy of certain nonperishable things (such as a technology or an idea) is proportional to their current age, so that every additional period of survival implies a longer remaining life expectancy.
What part of speech is Lindy effect?
Lindy effect is a proper noun.

Words near Lindy effect in the dictionary

  1. lindworm
  2. lindworms
  3. lindwyrm
  4. lindwyrms
  5. lindy
  6. Lindy effect
  7. lindy hop
  8. lindy hopping
  9. lindy hops
  10. lindy-hop
  11. lindy-hopping

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Lindy effect (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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