newborn
Americanadjective
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recently or only just born.
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born anew; reborn.
a newborn faith in human goodness.
noun
adjective
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recently or just born
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( as collective noun; preceded by the )
the newborn
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(of hope, faith, etc) reborn
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of newborn
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at new, born
Explanation
A newborn is literally a baby animal (including us human animals) who was born in the past month. Figuratively, newborn describes anything recently born or created, like a newborn interest in vocabulary. Little babies are newborns until they're a month old — four weeks is the official human newborn cut-off age. Then they’re just regular ol’ babies. Other things can be newborn as long as they’re brand new — a newborn restaurant was opened recently, a newborn celebrity might be 18 but she just got famous. You could have a newborn fear if you recently became scared of something. Most newborns are not scary, though. (Unless you’re babysitting one.)
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.
Amid the first days of grief after Alex Vesia and his wife lost their newborn daughter last fall, Vesia noticed something as he watched the World Series on television.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026
As a sole provider with newborn children, I needed all the help I could get.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026
The P/E ratio would have to rise above 90 over the next 18 years, and to about 2,000 by the time a newborn child today would expect to retire, in 67 years’ time.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 5, 2026
In some cases, two newborn stars become gravitationally bound, creating what astronomers call a binary star system.
From Science Daily • Jun. 5, 2026
Like a holy procession they returned to the village, the boy and the girl and the newborn twins and the cow and the cat.
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
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.
