adj., new·er, new·est.
- Having been made or come into being only a short time ago; recent: a new law.
- Still fresh: a new coat of paint.
- Never used or worn before now: a new car; a new hat.
- Just found, discovered, or learned: new information.
- Not previously experienced or encountered; novel or unfamiliar: ideas new to her.
- Different from the former or the old: the new morality.
- Recently obtained or acquired: new political power; new money.
- Additional; further: new sources of energy.
- Recently arrived or established in a place, position, or relationship: new neighbors; a new president.
- Changed for the better; rejuvenated: The nap has made a new person of me.
- Being the later or latest in a sequence: a new edition.
- Currently fashionable: a new dance.
- New In the most recent form, period, or development.
- Inexperienced or unaccustomed: new at the job; new to the trials of parenthood.
Freshly; recently. Often used in combination: new-mown.
[Middle English newe, from Old English nīwe, nēowe.]
newness new'ness n.SYNONYMS new, fresh, novel, newfangled, original. These adjectives describe what has existed for only a short time, has only lately come into use, or has only recently arrived at a state or position, as of prominence: New is the most general: a new movie; a new friend. "It is time for a new generation of leadership, to cope with new problems and new opportunities" (John F. Kennedy). Something fresh has qualities of newness such as briskness, brightness, or purity: fresh footprints in the snow; fresh hope of discovering a vaccine. Novel applies to the new and strikingly unusual: "His sermons were considered bold in thought and novel in language" (Edith Wharton). Newfangled suggests that something is needlessly novel: "the newfangled doctrine of utility" (John Galt). Something that is original is novel and the first of its kind: "The science of pure mathematics, in its modern development, may claim to be the most original creation of the human spirit" (Alfred North Whitehead).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
