Phrase guide

bandwagon effect

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

the observation that people often do or believe what they think many other people do.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, sciences, social-science, sociology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the phenomenon of a popular trend attracting even greater popularity

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • in periods of high merger activity there is a bandwagon effect with more and more firms seeking to engage in takeover activity
  • polls are accused of creating a bandwagon effect to benefit their candidate

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: consequence, effect, outcome, result, event, issue, upshot

History

Etymology

bandwagon + effect

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Polish: owczy pęd — bandwagon effect
  • Portuguese: efeito manada — bandwagon effect
  • Turkish: sürü etkisi — bandwagon effect
  • Turkish: bando etkisi — bandwagon effect