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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

Trade Representative Jamieson Greer meanwhile signaled the Trump administration was preparing a new wave of tariffs on roughly 60 countries over alleged forced-labor violations.

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

After achieving some success in the 1970s as part of the new wave band The Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart went on to achieve international success in the 1980s as Eurythmics.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

A new wave of wealth from the AI industry results in rents in San Francisco that average $5,500 a month, rivaling New York prices and leaving even well-paid newcomers scrambling for a place to live.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

I realized I’d been holding on to a last shred of hope when I entered Biology, saw his empty seat, and felt a new wave of disappointment.

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

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

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 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

There are a couple of knockouts – including the crunchy garage rock of Gap Toothed Smile, and the choppy New Wave anthem Link – but the point of the album is its diversity.

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2025

I tell him I mostly like indie and New Wave, but he doesn’t know what those are, and they’re hard to explain in Spanish.

From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez