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nouveau

American  
[noo-voh, noo-voh] / ˈnu voʊ, nuˈvoʊ /

adjective

  1. newly or recently created, developed, or come to prominence.

    The sudden success of the firm created several nouveau millionaires.


nouveau British  
/ ˈnuːvəʊ /

adjective

  1. facetious (prenominal) having recently become the thing specified

    a nouveau hippy

"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

Etymology

Origin of nouveau

1805–15; < French: new; Old French novel < Latin novellus; see novel 2

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.

For her first L.A. exhibition at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, she combines form and function with benches, couches and tables in a style that is simultaneously Art Nouveau, Art Deco and global.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

The results mostly resemble viney Art Nouveau type or wiggly psychedelia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

That’s because her things, such as her Art Nouveau pottery and her black-and-white silhouette artworks, still bring her joy.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2025

She was both the very famous star of Paris’s Folies Bergère and an icon of the Art Nouveau movement, with an eye toward the possibilities abstraction held for dance.

From New York Times • Dec. 6, 2024

“It’s an Art Nouveau mechanical pencil. I bought it for Mrs. Patterson ages ago. She used to wear it around her neck.”

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

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