new
/njuː
/adjective
1Produced, introduced, or discovered recently or now for the first time; not existing before: the new Madonna album new crop varieties this tendency is not new (as noun the new) a fascinating mix of the old and the new...
- You introduce your new album with a skit where a rock musician tries to alter your music.
- Each year seed companies and plant breeders introduce dozens of new varieties and hybrids.
- We must be vigilant to ensure that weeds do not become noxious as a result of any new crop variety.
Synonyms
recently developed, newly discovered, brand new, up to the minute, up to date, latest, current, state-of-the-art, contemporary, present-day, advanced, recent, modern;
newly arrived, newborn
novel, fresh, original, unhackneyed, imaginative, creative, experimental, new-fashioned, contemporary, modernist, up to date;
newfangled, modish, ultra-modern, avant-garde, futuristic
informal way out, far out
1.1Not previously used or owned: a second-hand bus costs a fraction of a new one...
- Made from delicately embroidered cotton, the gown looks almost new on the happy baby.
- The poor old thing was purchased new, and now has a rather worn binding and some book tape holding it together.
- I shall embark on a long project to acquire new or used copies of them all, regardless.
Synonyms
unused, brand new, as new, pristine, fresh, mint, in mint condition
1.2Of recent origin or arrival: a new baby...
- Just imagine what inept superpowers Ben and Jennifer's new baby girl must have.
- For his part, Sebastien Balleux said he has a lot of catching up to do with a new baby coming soon.
- This day, however, she chose to draw a picture of her new baby brother.
1.3(Of vegetables) dug or harvested early in the season: new potatoes...
- All main courses are served with a choice of chips, jacket or new potatoes and fresh vegetables or salad.
- The chicken was tender and nicely cooked and the creamy mash made a welcome change from new potatoes or chips.
- This was in fact me taking some salad stuff from Marks's round to his and boiling up some new potatoes.
2Already existing but seen, experienced, or acquired recently or now for the first time: her new bike a new sensation...
- To experience new emotions, good and bad, we have to climb the mountains, and swim the ocean.
- The shopping centre in the middle of the Hammersmith roundabout has acquired a new statue.
- It was therefore with mixed feelings that we have acquired a new cat - a kitten really.
2.1 (new to) Unfamiliar or strange to (someone): a way of living that was new to me...
- People don't know what to do when they see me riding my bike, it's strange and new to them.
- Everything was fresh and new to Cherry, and there were choices everywhere she turned.
- All the anecdotes were new to us, the creaking chair-bound jokes fresh as this morning's lox.
2.2 (new to/at) Inexperienced at or unaccustomed to (an activity): I’m quite new to gardening...
- He had never had a friend, period, so he was quite new at the business.
- He was quite new at being a father, but found it came surprisingly easily.
- So I'm quite new at it, I'm still naïve and eager, which is why I'm in the publicity role.
2.3Different from a recent previous one: I have a new assistant this would be her new home...
- Only later, in different times and new hands, does it transcend its bad faith.
- So what I am trying to do is to slowly shift myself to new, different territory.
- The problem is political change, because every new government has different ideas.
Synonyms
different, another, alternative, changed, unfamiliar, unknown, strange, unaccustomed, untried
2.4In addition to another or others already existing: looking for new business...
- Order books improved, but firms struggled to win new business in overseas markets.
- Small businesses will simply have an additional new tax regime to those they already have to face.
- In addition, two other new JPs who live in the borough were sworn in to serve in neighbouring courts.
Synonyms
additional, added, extra, increased, more, supplementary, supplemental, further, another, fresh
2.5 [in place names] Discovered or founded later than and named after: New York...
- The group hope one day to get the chance to run through New York.
- York's Ladies went back to the top of the North Eastern Indoor Bowls League at the expense of New Earswick.
- The others are the Derwent Valley Mills in Derbyshire, and New Lanark in South Lanarkshire.
3Beginning anew and in a transformed way: starting a new life the new South Africa...
- This was the beginning of a new era with the christening of the third ship to bear the name Perth.
- The first mission was described as the beginning of a new era of human spaceflight.
- What is happening in Iraq and in Palestine is just the beginning of what America calls the new era.
3.1(Of a person) reinvigorated: a bottle of pills would make him a new man...
- At the end of the ten weeks I was a new person, corny as it may sound I felt re-born.
- On the day Shesh packed his bags and kissed his mom goodbye, he felt like a whole new person.
- The man took seriously his being a new person and concluded that old relationships had passed away.
Synonyms
reinvigorated, restored, revived, improved, refreshed, regenerated, reborn, renewed, remodelled
3.2Superseding and more advanced than another or others of the same kind: the new architecture...
- His actions make no sense especially in the week when a new range of highly advanced robots is unleashed.
- I look forward to your cooperation in this new and progressive advance of medical science.
- The attempts to build new and adventurous architecture in the islands is a positive one.
3.3Reviving another or others of the same kind: the New Bohemians...
- Meet Europe's new bohemians, a generation who've grown up with the idea of Europe as a united concept.
- The new conservatives saw that the rhetoric of self-sacrifice had become meaningless to the generation born after the revolution.
adverb [usually in combination]
Newly; recently: new-mown hay he was enjoying his new-found freedom...
- This wine resounds with the aromas and flavors of herbs, gooseberries, fresh lime, green apple, and new-mown hay.
- This has given us a new-found freedom of investment and allowed us to look into some new asset classes.
- For a man previously prepared to travel so far, this showed a new found laziness.
Phrases
a new one
what's new
Derivatives
newish
/ adjective ...- They did two new songs (well, newish as they've done them before on a Radio Scotland session) and they're excellent - I recommend the unbelievably good What Women Do To Men.
- While they may seem like newish arrivals, they are now in their 40s and began working together in 1986 after studying at the Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam.
- It was the second big audience of the week for a newish (third series) program after the $1.92 million pulled on Tuesday night with Dancing with the Stars.
Origin
Old English nīwe, nēowe, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch nieuw and German neu, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit nava, Latin novus, and Greek neos 'new'.
New comes from the same root as Latin novus, the source of the English words innovate (mid 16th century), novel, novice (Middle English), and renovate (early 16th century). The noun news (Late Middle English) is simply the plural of new. It came into use as a translation of Old French noveles or medieval Latin nova, meaning ‘new things’. The proverb no news is good news, although modern-sounding, can be traced back at least as far as the time of King James I, who wrote in 1616 that ‘No newis is bettir then evill newis’. It may be based on the Italian phrase Nulla nuova, buona nova (‘No news, good news’). Newfangled (Middle English) is from new and a second element related to an Old English word meaning ‘to take’.