bellwether
a person or thing that assumes the leadership or forefront, as of a profession or industry: Paris is a bellwether of the fashion industry.
a person or thing that shows the existence or direction of a trend; index.
a person who leads a mob, mutiny, conspiracy, or the like; ringleader.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use bellwether in a sentence
From 1980 to 2012, for instance, these bellwether counties consistently voted within a few points of the national popular vote.
State and local initiatives are typically bellwethers, with successful ones serving as models for other states.
Three places where data is on the ballot this November | Eileen Guo | October 26, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewIowa has been a bellwether state in recent presidential elections.
Joni Ernst didn’t know the price of soybeans. Here’s why that could cost her. | Benjamin Rosenberg | October 16, 2020 | VoxHistorically, jobs reports released shortly before the election have been reasonable bellwethers for how the incumbent party will do, although the last jobs report of the cycle isn’t necessarily the most reliable.
September’s Jobs Report Is A Political Rorschach Test | Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux (Amelia.Thomson-DeVeaux@abc.com) | October 2, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightNike is a bellwether for a sector that’s been outperforming during the pandemic.
Gold bugs are on the back foot as COVID concerns climb and stimulus-check hopes fade | Bernhard Warner | September 25, 2020 | Fortune
When does a local education fight become a national bellwether?
Why Is Progressive Hero Bill de Blasio Throwing Charter Schools Out of New York City? | Conor P. Williams | March 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Old Dominion is now a national bellwether, and the GOP is looking like anything but a national party.
Yet, the reality is that Cuccinelli lags, and that Virginia is now an electoral bellwether.
‘Last Supper’ Flap Dredges Up Ken Cuccinelli’s Demons | Lloyd Green | September 18, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBrad Plumer notes that Walmart sales are often a bellwether for the rest of the economy.
Walmart Customers Have Disappeared. Will They Take the Economy With Them? | Megan McArdle | February 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTSo Ohio is more than just a bellwether; it could decide the election.
Virginia, Ohio, Florida: What to Watch For on Election Night 2012 | Howard Kurtz | November 6, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTA Galilean said, "When the shepherd is angry with his flock, he appoints for its leader a blind bellwether."
And what is the use of arguing with sheep who are leaping after the bellwether?
The Champagne Standard | Mrs. John LaneBut take a sheep flock now—the bellwether is jest a nice gentle old castrate thet'll do jest whut the sheepherder wants.
Assassin | Jesse Franklin BoneOne bellwether will carry a whole flock after it, but I fear not that any will want to hold back.
By Right of Conquest | G. A. HentyIf I done something against the regulations, would you have to report me to Captain bellwether?
Cum Grano Salis | Gordon Randall Garrett
British Dictionary definitions for bellwether
/ (ˈbɛlˌwɛðə) /
a sheep that leads the herd, often bearing a bell
a leader, esp one followed unquestioningly
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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