refreshing
Americanadjective
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having the power to restore freshness, vitality, energy, etc..
a refreshing nap.
-
pleasingly fresh or different.
a refreshing lack of pretense.
adjective
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able to or tending to refresh; invigorating
-
pleasantly different or novel
Other Word Forms
- refreshingly adverb
- refreshingness noun
- unrefreshing adjective
- unrefreshingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of refreshing
Explanation
Something is refreshing if it reinvigorates you, or seems new and exciting. The offer of a refreshing glass of iced tea would be especially refreshing if it came from your normally cranky sister. Mint toothpaste is refreshing — clean and brisk — and a cool ocean breeze is refreshing on a hot day. If you're used to seeing wilted salads and pale lasagna in your school cafeteria every day, a refreshing change would be a taco bar or homemade pizza. Refreshing comes from the verb refresh, which has a Germanic root similar to frisc, "fresh" in Old High German.
Vocabulary lists containing refreshing
Words to Describe a Movie
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Words to Describe Food
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American Street
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His lyrics are refreshing, clearly about human yearning but never seeming confessional or like he has a specific point to make.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026
The main event was the “cooling steam therapy,” which Xie said was meant to be calming and refreshing and help relieve tired eyes.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026
Scientists still do not fully understand what happens in the brain to create this sense of deep, refreshing rest.
From Science Daily • Mar. 26, 2026
Mangan points out that the team and audience need to "build up a rhythm and rapport with the show", adding "it felt refreshing to see an ambition / piece of madness... even being attempted".
From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026
I posted it and waited for someone to reply, refreshing over and over again.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
