Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

New Deal

American  

noun

  1. the principles of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, especially those advocated under the leadership of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for economic recovery and social reforms.

  2. the domestic program of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, especially during the period from 1933 to 1941.

New Deal British  

noun

  1. the domestic policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt for economic and social reform

  2. the period of the implementation of these policies (1933–40)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
New Deal Cultural  

  1. A group of government programs and policies established under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s; the New Deal was designed to improve conditions for persons suffering in the Great Depression. The projects of the New Deal included the Social Security System, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Works Progress Administration.

Discover More

The New Deal remains controversial. Some have criticized it as too expensive and have called it an inadvisable expansion of federal control over the American economy. Others have insisted that the New Deal was an appropriate response to desperate conditions and produced programs of continuing value.

Other Word Forms

  • New Dealer noun

Etymology

Origin of New Deal

1830–35, as political catchphrase during the Jackson presidency

Compare meaning

How does new-deal compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

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.

San Francisco launched the program in 2023 with $700,000 and contracted with SF New Deal, which focuses on supporting small businesses in the city.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2026

As for domestic policy, the high-water mark of federal government power previously was coincidently during the tenure of TR’s distant cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in the New Deal.

From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026

During the Great Depression, the Works Projects Administration, a New Deal agency created to combat unemployment, established 14 emergency nursery schools in New York.

From Salon • Nov. 6, 2025

No. 4 on the list is Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the president who brought us the New Deal.

From Slate • Nov. 4, 2025

In the New Deal we were their guestroom, their finished basement.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

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.