mainstream
UK/ˈmeɪn.stɹiːm//ˈmeɪn.stɹim/
mainstream adjective: used or accepted broadly rather than by small portions of population, market, scientific community, etc.
Adjective
mainstream (comparative more mainstream, superlative most mainstream)
- 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.
- As unsubstantiated claims receive significant backing, skeptics and defenders of mainstream science enter the fray.2011, Taner Edis, Science and Nonbelief, Greenwood Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 153
- Synonyms:
- common, usual, widespread, conventional
Noun
mainstream (plural mainstreams)
- The principal current in a flow, such as a river or flow of air
- That which is common; the norm.
- ideas outside of the mainstream
- George Herbert Walker Bush of Phillips Andover Academy and Yale University proclaimed in the first Presidential candidates' debate that he was “in touch with the mainstream of America.”1988 September 30, Tom Wicker, quoting George H. W. Bush, “Ol' Man Mainstream”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Verb
mainstream (third-person singular simple present mainstreams, present participle mainstreaming, simple past and past participle mainstreamed)
- To popularize, to normalize, to render mainstream.
- Just as the gang peace movement desired to mainstream hardcore bangers into civic society, The Chronic wanted to drive hardcore rap into the popstream.2011, Jeff Change, Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, page 420
- Acknowledging the role X plays in mainstreaming the worst constituencies makes for awkward conversations with those who continue to use it.2025 May 23, Charlie Warzel, “What Are People Still Doing on X?”, in The Atlantic
- To become mainstream.
- In a nonchurch context, we can look more explicitly at formerly New Age practices to see if and how they have mainstreamed.2013, Catherine L. Albanese, America: Religions and Religion, 5th edition, Boston: Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 262
- To educate (a disabled student) together with non-disabled students.
- 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.1985 April 14, Barbara Gerbasi, “Mainstreaming My Son”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
mainstream meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
mainstream in Hindi
- mainstream
- मुख्यधारा mukhyadhārā
mainstream in Tamil
- பிரதான நீரோட்டம், பிரதான நீரோடை
mainstream in Urdu
- عام رجحان, بڑی ندی, مقبول رجحان
mainstream in Bengali
- প্রধান ধারা, প্রধান প্রবাহ
More languagesFewer languages
- mainstream in Telugu
- ప్రధాన స్రవంతి, ముఖ్య స్రవంతి
- mainstream in Malayalam
- മുഖ്യധാര mukhyadhāra
- mainstream in Kannada
- ಮುಖ್ಯ ವಾಹಿನಿ, ಮುಖ್ಯ ಧಾರೆ, ಮುಖ್ಯ ಪ್ರವಾಹ, ಮುಖ್ಯ ಹರಿವು
- mainstream in Punjabi
- ਮੁੱਖ ਧਾਰਾ mukkha dhārā
- mainstream in Gujarati
- મુખ્યપ્રવાહ, મુખ્યધારા
- mainstream in Odia
- ମୁଖ୍ଯ଼ଧାରାର, ମୁଖ୍ଯ଼ଧାରା
- mainstream in Nepali
- मुख्यधारा, मुख्यधाराको, मुख्यधाराका
- mainstream in Malay
- arus perdana
- mainstream in Indonesian
- arus utama
- mainstream in Vietnamese
- chính thống
Examples of mainstream in a sentence
- The mainstream media hones in on bad news stories where UK railways are concerned, yet gives scant attention to the many items of good news emerging from the network.2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Aylesbury (2009)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 61:
- Le Pen looks more mainstream now, it’s because the mainstream looks more like her.2022 April 20, Rim-Sarah Alouane, “Marine Le Pen Is as Dangerous as Ever”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- "Railways seldom slavishly followed styles to be seen in the mainstream of contemporary architecture," HE [Historic England] explains.2021 October 20, Dr Joseph Brennan, “A key part of our diverse railway heritage”, in RAIL, number 942, page 55:
Synonyms of mainstream
Antonyms
Forms of mainstream
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more mainstream |
| superlative | most mainstream |
| Noun | |
| plural | mainstreams |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | mainstreams |
| present participle | mainstreaming |
| past participle | mainstreamed |
| past | mainstreamed |
Origin of mainstream
From main + stream. Cognate with Icelandic meginstraumur (“a main current, mainstream”).
Words formed from mainstream
Questions about mainstream
- What does mainstream mean?
- Mainstream means used or accepted broadly rather than by small portions of population, market, scientific community, etc.
- What is mainstream in Hindi?
- Mainstream in Hindi is मुख्यधारा (mukhyadhārā). See Mainstream meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use mainstream in a sentence?
- The mainstream media hones in on bad news stories where UK railways are concerned, yet gives scant attention to the many items of good news emerging from the network.
- What part of speech is mainstream?
- Mainstream can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce mainstream?
- Mainstream is pronounced /ˈmeɪn.stɹiːm/ (UK).
Words near mainstream in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mainstream (page history and authors); मुख्यधारा (Hindi) (page history and authors); mainstream (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mainstream (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mainstream (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mainstream (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mainstream (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਮੁੱਖ ਧਾਰਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); mainstream (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mainstream (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); mainstream (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-mainstream.ogg.
Cite this entry: “mainstream.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mainstream. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.