main·stream
ˈmān-ˌstrēm 
: a prevailing current or direction of activity or influence
mainstream
adjective
main·stream
: having, reflecting, or being compatible with the prevailing attitudes and values of a society or group
mainstream media
movies that appeal to a mainstream audience
mainstream success
main·stream
ˈmān-ˈstrēm
mainstreamed; mainstreaming; mainstreams
1
: to place (a student, such as a disabled child) in regular school classes
2
: to incorporate in the mainstream
Examples of mainstream in a Sentence
Verb
The poor should be mainstreamed into the private health-insurance system.
Ideas that were once controversial have now become mainstreamed.
Recent Examples on the Web
Boaz Sobrado, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
This Independent Spirit Award nominee can seamlessly navigate between independent films and mainstream projects, like her incredible work on Reasonable Doubt on Hulu.
—Noel Cody, Essence, 7 Mar. 2025
Esther K. Choy, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
There might be a compromise—if producers can program these mainstream pop tracks with the most on-the-nose lyrics for key scenes and keep those drops to an absolute minimum.
—Clover Hope, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2025
Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2025
As a third-term senator who holds generally mainstream foreign policy views, Mr. Rubio, 53, is expected to be confirmed with relative ease later this month after Mr. Trump, once inaugurated, officially nominates him to succeed Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.
—Michael Crowley, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mainstream
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Noun
Stablecoin utilization is increasingly driven by countries outside of the financial mainstream.
—Boaz Sobrado, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
This Independent Spirit Award nominee can seamlessly navigate between independent films and mainstream projects, like her incredible work on Reasonable Doubt on Hulu.
—Noel Cody, Essence, 7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
Their stories have been recorded in archives, but so often their stories are left out of mainstream narratives of U.S. history...
—Esther K. Choy, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
There might be a compromise—if producers can program these mainstream pop tracks with the most on-the-nose lyrics for key scenes and keep those drops to an absolute minimum.
—Clover Hope, Pitchfork, 7 Mar. 2025
Verb
Throughout his career, the Canadian auteur has deliberately shunned big-budget features or mainstream Hollywood to make low-budget films out of French-speaking Quebec.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2025
As a third-term senator who holds generally mainstream foreign policy views, Mr. Rubio, 53, is expected to be confirmed with relative ease later this month after Mr. Trump, once inaugurated, officially nominates him to succeed Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.
—Michael Crowley, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mainstream
Cite this Entry
“Mainstream.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mainstream. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
mainstream
adjective
main·stream
ˌmān-ˌstrēm
: relating to or being tobacco smoke that is drawn (as from a cigarette) directly into the mouth of the smoker and is usually inhaled into the lungs compare sidestream
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