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I am looking for an opposite to the word trendy without giving a meaning that those who adopted the trend are old-fashioned in hindsight. For example,

Service Oriented Architecture is the trend as of now. But what is trendy in 2014 can become ______ in 2015.

So in 2015, the trend becomes widespread to the extent that it is no longer trendy, but not necessarily old-fashioned.

Edit: I am currently thinking of using mainstream. But still any other thoughts are welcome!

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  • 1
    What's the problem with "mainstream"?
    – Nick2253
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 15:08
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    You definitely mean to say conventional. See also, commonplace; regular; the usual; normal;
    – Kris
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 15:13
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    Informal: so last year. :)
    – Kris
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 15:15
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    it's interesting- the word u r looking for is probably not the opposite of trendy- that would be old fashioned/outdated. U are looking for a word that means that the technology is not trendy but currently mainstream and heavily used and integrated. that's a positive for a technology, not a negative.
    – Gitty
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 15:32
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    what is trendy today, can be run-of-the-mill tomorrow.
    – Misti
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 17:42

13 Answers 13

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If you're not looking for outmoded or unfashionable, I suggest "commonplace".

  • Service Oriented Architecture is the trend as of now. But what is trendy in 2014 can become commonplace in 2015"

commonplace (adj) - an idea, expression, remark, etc., that is not new. Merriam-Webster

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    Established or well-established are slightly more emphatic alternatives.
    – PLL
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 22:47
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I think standard may fit the context suggested:

  • commonly used or supplied; "standard car equipment", "a standard service".
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  • +1 for a good suggestion, but I find standard rather heavy in this context
    – senseiwu
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 15:24
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    @zencv How exactly do you figure that? Standard is a perfectly normal, unimposing word that doesn’t smack of academia or anything ‘heavy’ like that. I was about to suggest ubiquitous, which I can easily see how you’d find too heavy; but standard is no more heavy to me than the norm or commonplace (in fact less heavy than the latter).
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 10:52
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If without a negative connotation I think the word classic is appropriate.

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    A lot of times "classic" means "normal of the past"... which sometimes becomes trendy. Eg, the classic 70s bell-bottoms becoming trendy in the late nineties.
    – djeikyb
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 20:16
  • Yeah, so the right word is for opposite of "trendy" is "classy", not "classic".
    – pfalcon
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 21:53
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    If you want something not negative but actually positive, "timeless" might be better than "classic".
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 9:49
  • If talking about clothing, music, or the like, then classic, timeless and so on are excellent. But for the example in the question, talking about trends in the software industry, they’re rather less natural choices.
    – PLL
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 22:46
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Normal.

"(In computing) Service Oriented Architecture is the trend as of now. But what is trendy in 2014 can become normal in 2015"

If I could impose some stylistic changes, I might phrase the sentence as follows:

"(In computing) Service Oriented Architecture is the trend as of now. But what is trendy in 2014 may merely be normal by 2015"

The change is to emphasize the change in status from flashy to the status quo. Without knowing more about what you intend to convey, however, I can't say if this is the right choice for you.

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  • It's funny you didn't suggest status quo, which is a way better choice than normal.
    – Kyle Hale
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 20:16
  • i chose commonplace, but mainstream and your suggestion of normal comes very close to the idea that I wanted to convey (+1)
    – senseiwu
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 20:43
  • @KyleHale, Status Quo seems slightly negative to me, so I chose normal. But I can see the irony, as it is a more provocative word and clearly in my vocabulary ;)
    – Coty Johnathan Saxman
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 5:25
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$0.02:

But what is trendy in 2014 can become the norm in 2015.

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  • Welcome to ELU! The norm here is for more detailed answers but I think this answer is fine for this question.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 10:28
  • Understood. (I hope there is no norm for detailed comments!)
    – Yerk
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 15:57
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    @DavidRicherby What's wrong with this question? It's a good answer. Honestly, stack overflow police.
    – sksamuel
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 16:03
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    @monkjack I don't think he has a problem with my answer, he was likely just making sure I am not oblivious to the protocol here as many new users are.
    – Yerk
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 16:23
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How about "staid" defined by http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/staid as of settled or sedate character; not flighty or capricious.

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Since you are using trendy as a shorthand for "not widely adopted", my suggestion would be to change trendy to merely trendy. This primes the reader that trendy is the more negative of the two words, i.e. being mainstream or common or whatever word you insert into the blank is more desirable than being trendy.

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I happen to have a different take on the entire statement, I might be completely off the mark here.

(In computing) Service Oriented Architecture is the trend as of now. But what is trendy in 2014 can become ______ in 2015

The first part of the statement, (In computing) Service Oriented Architecture is the trend as of now. it gives me the idea that SOA is becoming mainstream at present. As a developer, something that is a trend presently is something that is an accepted entity and is widely accepted. It also points to something being quite mainstream. With this context, may I propose,

(In computing) Service Oriented Architecture is the trend as of now. But what is trending in 2014 can get challenged in 2015

While trying to keep the negative in check, there has to be a reduction of stress in the second part of the sentence (referring to 2015).

Another way I interpret this is that SOA is fairly new, and with it's user base increasing rapidly, applications increasingly migrating to it etc. Hence, the excitement about it needs to be captured. How about something on the lines of:

(In computing) Service Oriented Architecture has shown huge promise. But what is trending in 2014 can become quite mainstream in 2015

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In addition to "commonplace", "classic", and "normal" (which other posters have suggested), you might also consider "old-hat" or "just another tool in the toolbox". "Old-hat" has connotations of "something recognizable, comfortable, and easy-to-use" rather than "the opposite of what is in fashion".

"Passé", "old-school", and "old fashioned" have the negative connotations you are looking to avoid.

If fashions change quickly enough, "retro" might be the word you want. It is hard to imagine things changing so quickly that in just a year, what was old is new again, but maybe your field is like that.

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  • I think "old hat" has pretty strong negative connotations, too.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 10:59
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I'd offer retro. You have trendy clothing and retro clothing - both are stylish, but the latter is from a previous era.

of or designating the style of an earlier time: retro clothes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro_style

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I think @DavidRitcherby has it correctly; trendy is not the same as trend.

Trend implies a growing consensus that this is the best approach (whereas trendy is something the elite adopt), the OP sentence uses trend rather than trendy so the suggestion is that in 2014 SOA went from a bleeding edge technology to one that had gained a lot of credibility, which then 2015 would be the entry into the mainstream, where the support for growth plateaus.

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  • This sounds like your opinion. Do you have any references to back up this analysis?
    – Matt Gutting
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 17:11
  • I'd say "trend" is more neutral than "trendy". Even analysis is opinion. No need to disparage.
    – Chan-Ho Suh
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 20:11
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The word contemporary perhaps?

belonging to or occurring in the present.

It's not exactly an opposite, but may still be more fitting depending on the context - it's not trendy, but still sufficiently 'modern' to be considered 'normal'.

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passé.
adjective 1. no longer fashionable, in wide use, etc.; out-of-date; outmoded. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/passe)

That is the antonym I'd use for "trendy"... but it doesn't appear to be what you're actually looking for. "Old-School" might fit your needs better. Or "commonplace".

Thought of another while reading others' ideas... how about (tech) "du jour"?
Of course, any phrase in French tends to sound disparaging, hehehe...

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    Passé most definitely has a negative connotation.
    – houbysoft
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 18:13
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    passè would be wrong here
    – senseiwu
    Commented Dec 22, 2014 at 20:44
  • I disagree that passè would be totally wrong here. The actual question only asks that the word doesn't connote "old-fashionedness". Passè connotes a general sense of un-remarkableness, which seems to be the correct tone in the context of the sample sentence.
    – Harrison Paine
    Commented Dec 23, 2014 at 15:46

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