Meanings
- no pluralhuman sciencesA cognitive bias by which a recently learned word, concept, etc. suddenly seems to appear with improbable frequency.
There’s a well-known cognitive bias where, after you become aware of something new, you start seeing it everywhere. It’s known as the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, but from this year, I’ll think of it as the Katy B effect, after Katy on a Mission became the unexpected soundtrack of my summer.
[2025 December 25, Elle Hunt, “Paranoia, pop-dubstep and perfectly odd gems: the best old music we discovered this year”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Dec 2025Synonyms: Baader-Meinhof effect, frequency illusion
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA cognitive bias by which a recently learned word, concept, etc. suddenly seems to appear with improbable frequency.
Origin
Named in 1994 after the West German Baader-Meinhof Group of the 1970s, when a commentator unexpectedly heard two references to the group within 24 hours. The group is named after two of its leaders, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Baader-Meinhof%20phenomenon
“Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Baader-Meinhof%20phenomenon. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Baader-Meinhof phenomenon,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Baader-Meinhof%20phenomenon.
Source: Baader-Meinhof phenomenon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.