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• 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.

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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

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New Wave ² British  

noun

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

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new wave ³ British  

noun

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

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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

With that new wave in mind, Conti initiated coverage of eight hardware stocks on Monday.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

The newspaper To Vima hailed this "new wave" which "helps raise the country’s international profile".

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

On Saturday, Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said his country had been afraid of a "risk of a new wave of arrivals in Ceuta".

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

In October 2026, a new wave of cuts to CalFresh will decrease the federal government’s contribution to CalFresh from 50% to 25%, leaving a larger portion of costs to states, counties and regional organizations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

As the nineteenth century drew to a close, he saw a massive new wave of men flooding into Chicago, fleeing oppression in eastern Europe—from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

The 1979 movie version, a landmark of the Aussie New Wave, established the careers of director Gillian Armstrong, actress Judy Davis and the recently departed New Zealander Sam Neill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

She also inspired French New Wave directors like Jean-Luc Godard, who chose her to star in what would become one of his most critically acclaimed films, “Contempt.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025

He was also warmly received as a young man by Georges Delerue, the great serenader of the French New Wave in films like “Jules and Jim” and “Contempt.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2025

Sagan’s novel was adapted into a film four years later, where French New Wave icon Jean Seberg put a cherubic face to Cécile’s scheming.

From Salon ● May 2, 2025

Lately, Park was really into New Wave music.

From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell