Meanings
- The hypothesized phenomenon that the future life expectancy of certain nonperishable things (such as a technology or an idea) is proportional to their current age, so that every additional period of survival implies a longer remaining life expectancy.
Let me warn the reader: while the Lindy effect is one of the most useful, robust, and universal heuristics I know, Lindy's cheesecake is… much less distinguished. Odds are the deli will not survive, by the Lindy effect.
2018, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, chapter 8, in Skin in the Game, Penguin, →ISBN
Origin
In reference to Lindy's delicatessen in New York, where comedians would meet to discuss showbusiness. This was discussed in "Lindy's Law", a 1964 article by Albert Goldman in The New Republic. Goldman described a folkloric belief that the amount of material comedians have is constant, and therefore the frequency of output predicts how long their series will last.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Lindy effect. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lindy%20effect
“Lindy effect.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lindy%20effect. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Lindy effect,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Lindy%20effect.
Source: Lindy effect on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.