Phrase guide

herd behaviour

noun · 1 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 tendency of a group of individuals (a herd) to react coherently without there being any coordination between them. The term may be applied to animals, or to human phenomena such as stock market bubbles and behaviour in political demonstrations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

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

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: stádní chování — the tendency of a group of individuals (a herd) to react coherently without there being any coordination between them
  • German: Herdentrieb — the tendency of a group of individuals (a herd) to react coherently without there being any coordination between them
  • German: Herdenverhalten — the tendency of a group of individuals (a herd) to react coherently without there being any coordination between them
  • Spanish: comportamiento gregario — the tendency of a group of individuals (a herd) to react coherently without there being any coordination between them