fresh
/frɛʃ
/adjective
1(Of food) recently made or obtained; not tinned, frozen, or otherwise preserved: fresh fruit...
- Cabin passengers enjoyed more space, privacy and better food including fresh meat and fruit.
- In warmer weather the food, especially fresh vegetables and fruit, may need to be replaced more than twice a day.
- How are these community members able to obtain fresh food, keep medical appointments or transport their children?
Synonyms
newly harvested, garden-fresh, not stale, crisp, firm, unwilted, unfaded;
raw, natural, unprocessed, unpreserved, undried, uncured, unsmoked, without additives, without preservatives
2Not previously known or used; new or different: the court had heard fresh evidence...
- Danny, 22, left Manchester for Glasgow to make a fresh start after he fell in with ‘the wrong crowd’ and got into drugs.
- She and her mother plan to make a fresh start in Canada.
- The compensation will enable her to clear her debts, repay the money she borrowed from her mother and make a fresh start.
Synonyms
new, brand new, recent, latest, up to date, modern, modernistic, ultra-modern, newfangled;
original, novel, different, innovative, unusual, uncommon, unwonted, out of the ordinary, unconventional, unorthodox, offbeat, radical, revolutionary;
British out of the common
2.1Recently created or experienced and not faded or impaired: the memory was still fresh in their minds...
- I have come here straight from the dojo with that experience still fresh in my mind.
- With that experience so fresh in our minds, it would be a shame if the whole sorry episode were to be repeated for broadband.
- He had only been introduced to it recently and it was fresh in his mind.
2.2(Of a person) attractively youthful and unspoilt: a fresh young girl...
- We're new, we're fresh, we're young and we're still a little crazy.
- At eighteen years old, she was still fresh from adolescence and stinging from the abrupt end of an eight month relationship.
- She was a very fresh agent, a diminutive girl just recently graduated from college.
Synonyms
young, youthful, juvenile, adolescent, boyish, girlish, new, newly arrived;
inexperienced, untrained, unqualified, untried, raw, callow, green, immature, artless, ingenuous, naive
informal wet behind the ears
3 [predicative] (Of a person) full of energy and vigour: they are feeling fresh after a good night’s sleep...
- It's all about training them when you are fresh and have the most energy to devote to them.
- Her face was fresh and full of life.
- Just make sure you tackle it again when you're fresh though!
Synonyms
refreshed, rested, restored, revived, like a new person;
fresh as a daisy, energetic, vigorous, invigorated, full of vim and vigour, vital, lively, vibrant, spry, sprightly, bright, alert, bouncing, perky
informal full of beans, raring to go, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, chirpy, chipper
3.1(Of a colour or a person’s complexion) bright or healthy in appearance: a young constable with a fresh complexion the foliage was still a fresh colour...
- After more than 60 years, they still retain their fresh colours and look even more stylish than the copies made today.
- With its rich and fresh colours and lovely shape, the countryside pottery looks even more attractive than the luxury kind.
- He was clean-shaven with a fresh complexion and was wearing a light-coloured flat cap with a long, dark nylon or cotton raincoat.
Synonyms
healthy, healthy-looking, clear, bright, youthful, youthful-looking, wholesome, blooming, glowing, unblemished;
fair, rosy, rosy-cheeked, pink, pinkish, reddish, ruddy, flushed, blushing
4(Of water) not salty: all the fresh water in the world’s lakes...
- The lake water is fresh near the surface, but remains salty at the bottom.
- Seafood from salty and fresh waters is plentiful.
- Sea water and sedimentary brines are volumetrically more important that fresh waters, but are unfit for human consumption.
5(Of the wind) cool and fairly strong: a fresh northerly wind was speeding the ship southwards...
- I came from a small town, where the wind is fresh and cool, you could taste the air on your lips.
- For the most part, conditions were benign with sunshine and fresh winds.
- The cool and fresh mountain wind on his face did not calm him as it should.
Synonyms
chilly, cool, cold, brisk, bracing, invigorating;
bleak, wintry, snowy, frosty, icy, ice-cold, icy-cold, glacial, polar, arctic, raw, bitter, bitterly cold, biting
informal nippy
British informal parky
literary chill
rare gelid, brumal
5.1British informal (Of the weather) rather cold and windy: She shivered in the chilly air. ‘A bit fresh, isn’t it?’...
- Weather conditions were fresh, but the keen course committee ensured that the excellent facilities were in top order.
- Gasping in the fresh cold air, Christopher cleared away the shards with a side table, knocking out the frame as he did so.
- There's cold, fresh air there, and he takes gulps, trying to steady himself.
5.2Pleasantly clean and cool: the toothpaste leaves the mouth feeling wonderfully fresh...
- The air was fresh and clean as if it had rained the night before.
- Easily accessible, this tourist area is noted for its beauty, and cool, fresh mountain air.
- It was pleasantly cool outside, and the air was delightfully fresh compared to that of the city.
Synonyms
cool, crisp, refreshing, invigorating, tonic;
pure, clean, clear, unpolluted, uncontaminated, untainted
6 (fresh from/out of) (Of a person) having just had (a particular experience) or come from (a particular place): we were fresh out of art school
7 informal Presumptuous towards someone, especially in a sexual way: some of the men tried to get fresh with the girls...
- Because I get fresh with them and don't want to do what they say.
Synonyms
impudent, impertinent, insolent, presumptuous, audacious, forward, cheeky, irreverent, discourteous, disrespectful, insubordinate, rude, crude, brazen, brazen-faced, brash, shameless, pert, defiant, bold, (as) bold as brass, outrageous, shocking, out of line
informal brass-necked, cocky, lippy, mouthy, flip
British informal saucy, smart-arsed
North American informal sassy, nervy, smart-assed
rare malapert, contumelious
8West Indian Having an unpleasant, slightly rotten smell: this place was covered in water and smelled fresh like hell
adverb [usually in combination]
Newly; recently: fresh-baked bread fresh-cut grass
Phrases
be fresh out of
be (as) fresh as a daisy
fresh blood
Origin
Old English fersc 'not salt, fit for drinking', superseded in Middle English by forms from Old French freis, fresche; both ultimately of Germanic origin and related to Dutch vers and German frisch.
In Anglo-Saxon times, when meat was salted to last through the winter, fresh meant ‘not salt’. The sense of ‘newly made, not faded, or worn’ developed in the Middle Ages. Fresh meaning ‘cheeky’ or ‘impudent’ appeared in the 19th century, and may have been influenced by German frech ‘saucy’. A desire for new areas of activity may be expressed as wanting fresh fields and pastures new. The phrase is a misquotation from a poem by the 17th-century poet John Milton, ‘Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new’.