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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

Cyber-security researcher Charlie Kelly from Have I Been Squatted carried out an analysis of how the attack worked and said the new wave of recruitment scams were hard to spot.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

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

“Class president, the jock, the cultural disruptor, the new wave aesthetic.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

The next morning, Burry opened the Wall Street Journal to find an article explaining how the new wave of adjustable-rate mortgages were defaulting, in their first nine months, at rates never before seen.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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

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

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

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

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

From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell