nouveau

[ noo-voh, noo-voh ]

/ ˈnu voʊ, nuˈvoʊ /

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adjective

newly or recently created, developed, or come to prominence: The sudden success of the firm created several nouveau millionaires.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of nouveau

1805–15; <French: new; Old French novel<Latin novellus;see novel²

Words nearby nouveau

nourishing, nourishment, nous, no use crying over spilt milk, no use, it's, nouveau, nouveau pauvre, nouveau riche, nouveau roman, nouveauté, nouvelle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use nouveau in a sentence

Lviv is so beautifully preserved, its just-rightly jaded art nouveau buildings give such a well-worn patina of time, that you never know what century you are in.
Ukraine Is Our Past and Our Future|Peter Pomerantsev|April 6, 2022|Time
The scenes, captured in Philip Montgomery’s nouveau noir style, feel as if they’re narrated over a crackling radio broadcast declaring hard truths about the state of the country.
TIME's 20 Best Photobooks of 2021|TIME Photo Department|December 22, 2021|Time
These have the pared-down, Pre-Modernist look of Art Nouveau.
The Magazine That Made—and Unmade—Politicians|Anthony Haden-Guest|November 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The day we were supposed to shoot this, the Beaujolais Nouveau comes out.
Rob Reiner on the State of Romcoms, ‘The Princess Bride’s’ Alternate Ending, and the Red Viper|Marlow Stern|July 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The façade bore all the trendy trappings of the Art Nouveau movement that swept across the European continent.
Secret KGB Torture House Opens Its Doors in Riga|Brandon Presser|June 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Horses may be the nouveau eco-friendly delivery van in some parts, but apparently not in big cities.
De Blasio Whipped by Horse Lobby|Josh Robin|March 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In nouveau hipster and increasingly expensive Brooklyn, nearly a quarter of people live below the poverty line.
Richard Florida Concedes the Limits of the Creative Class|Joel Kotkin|March 20, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Voyez l'efficace du sacrement: le lendemain matin, il mande M. de Biancourt et moy, et de nouveau il recommence sa harangue.
The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Vol. II: Acadia, 1612-1614|Various
And Jack come home from a long cruise, with prize-money in his pockets, was as ostentatious as any nouveau riche.
The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries|Charles G. Harper
On n'y apprend rien de nouveau, et cependant il attache et intresse.
Baron d'Holbach|Max Pearson Cushing
He really is a typical nouveau riche out of a novel (not one of your novels, darling).
Happy House|Betsey Riddle, Freifrau von Hutten zum Stolzenberg
Ma place au Commerce n'a pas eu de suite; je suis de nouveau sur le pav.
Vie de Bohme|Orlo Williams

British Dictionary definitions for nouveau

nouveau

before a plural noun nouveaux

/ (ˈnuːvəʊ) /

adjective

(prenominal) facetious, or derogatory having recently become the thing specifieda nouveau hippy

Word Origin for nouveau

C20: French, literally: new; on the model of nouveau riche

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