current thing

noun

Something that is popular, trendy or newsworthy at the moment but is unlikely to remain so long-term.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nouncurrent thing (plural current things)

plural current things

  1. InternetSomething that is popular, trendy or newsworthy at the moment but is unlikely to remain so long-term.

    And just like that, the current thing has changed.

    2022 May 2, Greg Price, Twitter
    2 more examples

    Why am I so fascinated by the current thing? Well, in part, the exact same dynamics play out in tech, business, and finance every day. Once you see it, you can't unsee it.

    2022 April 7, Marc Andreessen, Twitter

    From there, the meme will slowly leak into more popular mainstream-right punditry, and then into the Republican Party, until Ted Cruz sweatily asks a judicial nominee if they “support the current thing” and the Times writes some stilted, breathless article about the meme as disinformation.

    2022 May 9, Max Read, “What Is “The Current Thing”?”, in Slate
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see current, thing.

    Your ability to rationalize current things is what’s holding you back from imagining new things.

    2025 January 24, Waqas, Twitter

Origin

From I support the current thing, a phrase that is used to mock people who show support to a cause but abandon it when it is no longer newsworthy. First used in early 2022.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

current thing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/current%20thing

MLA

“current thing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/current%20thing. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “current thing,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/current%20thing.

Source: current thing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.