refreshing
Americanadjective
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having the power to restore freshness, vitality, energy, etc..
a refreshing nap.
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pleasingly fresh or different.
a refreshing lack of pretense.
adjective
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able to or tending to refresh; invigorating
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pleasantly different or novel
Other Word Forms
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.
Watermelon has long been a summer favorite, but research suggests this refreshing fruit may offer benefits far beyond hydration.
From Science Daily • May 17, 2026
For the moms who love a tart yet refreshing dessert, treat them to homemade lime ice cream.
From Salon • May 10, 2026
Honestly, it’s refreshing to be repulsed and intrigued by a movie willing to plumb these psychological depths when Hollywood won’t.
From Los Angeles Times • May 9, 2026
"Tilly is one of the most refreshing young cricketers I've ever worked with," said Adams.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026
The bay slept well in the woodland nest where he had laid himself down, in that kind of thin but refreshing sleep which people have when they begin to lie out of doors.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
