newbie
Americannoun
-
newbies
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of newbie
An Americanism first recorded in 1965–70; perhaps newb(orn) + -ie
Explanation
Newbie is a nickname for someone who is new to something. The new guy on a team or job is a newbie. Someone who just started using the internet is a newbie. Newbies are just starting out. This word — which has new right in it — is a slangy term for someone just starting an activity. A person on their first day at a job is a newbie. A first-time soccer player is a newbie. Freshmen are newbies. The opposite of a newbie is a veteran. Because newbies are inexperienced, they have a lot to learn. Newbies are also called rookies.
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.
See Examples For:
Not if you’re a newbie trying to join an intergalactic police force devoted to stopping interplanetary outrages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Many years ago, when I was a newbie newspaper reporter in the Boston Globe’s Washington bureau, one of my colleagues, Tom Oliphant, gave me a tip that I’ve cherished ever since.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
I asked the queen what a newbie like me should know about visiting her village.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
In 2022, the political newbie won Kathmandu's mayoral race by a landslide as an independent candidate, triumphing over parties which had dominated elections for decades.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2026
I asked, because he never got out the car except for the time he had to ask my mom if I could go on the newbie dinner, but that had been weeks ago.
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
E-motos aren’t street-legal, but they are drawing newbies to an industry thirsty for young riders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
For Mukherjea, the lesson is to buy blue chip Indian names that domestic newbies find boring and global investors have sidelined to chase AI stocks elsewhere.
From Barron's ● Nov. 20, 2025
Their experience also lets them notice AI mistakes newbies might miss.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2025
Among the beauty newbies: a scandal-ridden politician’s daughter, a seafood retailer and a stationery-maker.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2025
He points out the “quad” and the “field house” and refers to the “Ivies” and the “public Ivies,” where all these newbies will ultimately matriculate.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
