Jump To:

• new wave
  new wave

  noun

  a movement, trend, or vogue, as in art, literature, or politics, that breaks with traditional concepts, values, techniques, or the like.
• New Wave
  New Wave

  noun

  a movement in the French cinema of the 1960s, led by such directors as Godard, Truffaut, and Resnais, characterized by a fluid use of the camera and an abandonment of traditional editing techniques

new wave

American  

noun

1. a movement, trend, or vogue, as in art, literature, or politics, that breaks with traditional concepts, values, techniques, or the like.

2. (often initial capital letters) a group of leaders or representatives of such a movement, especially of French film directors of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

3. (often initial capital letters) a largely minimalist but emotionally intense style of rock music, being an outgrowth of punk rock in the late 1970s, typified by spare or repetitive arrangements, and emphasizing energetic, unpolished performance.

---

New Wave ¹ British  

noun

1. Also known as: La Nouvelle Vague.  a movement in the French cinema of the 1960s, led by such directors as Godard, Truffaut, and Resnais, characterized by a fluid use of the camera and an abandonment of traditional editing techniques

---

New Wave ² British  

noun

1. rock music of the late 1970s, related to punk but more complex: sometimes used to include punk

---

new wave ³ British  

noun

1. a movement in art, film-making, politics, etc, that consciously breaks with traditional ideas

---

Other Word Forms

• newwaver
  noun
• new-wave
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of new wave

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

new wave New Wave

For Jutta Ambrositsch, a pioneering figure among the new wave of Viennese winemakers, "the major problem is insensitive and careless real estate development in the 'heurigen areas'".

From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026

A new wave of high-tech apparel aims to help them stay cooler and more comfortable through the heat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

The conflict with Iran cut off a key transit route for oil supplies and ignited a new wave of global inflation, but the U.S. economy avoided becoming a major casualty.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026

Over the group's career, their music has been described as new wave, sophisti-pop, jangle pop, indie pop, and post-punk.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Cora figured that a new wave of immigrants would replace the Irish, fleeing a different but no less abject country, the process starting anew.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

Bohm, who died last year at 86, was a highly respected film writer, actor and academic, a veteran of Germany’s New Wave.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026

Although British New Wave bands had pioneered the use of the music video as an art form, Michael Jackson was one of the first Black artists to be given the chance to do the same.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026

"I think rap is getting gentrified," he told New Wave magazine.

From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2026

There’s some nostalgia involved, sure, tied up with memories of dancing with your goth girlfriends at New Wave Dance Night, but all three of those songs on a random Friday in Ohio were total steamrollers.

From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2025

He could get back to New Wave in November, after he got his driver's license.

From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell