a new wave, trend, movement, phase, etc., especially in an art form.
the films of a group of young French and Italian filmmakers, beginning in the late 1950s, who emphasized conscious manipulation of film techniques and psychological probing instead of plot.
Literally, “new wave”
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The film was based on an idea by François Truffaut, another icon of the nouvelle vague, and began shooting in Paris without a script.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2021
It’s extremely poetic and introspective, almost like a Japanese nouvelle vague from the ’80s.
From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2020
The double bill was an immersion in the black-and-white, Gauloise-enriched universe of nouvelle vague Paris, and exiting the theater onto Bleecker Street became a disorienting extension of the movies, a demonstration of the medium’s power.
From New York Times ● Aug. 16, 2016
He replaced the actor chosen for the lead, Ben Johnson, with himself and proceeded to embark on a series of existential adventures which left even the nouvelle vague well behind.
From The Guardian ● May 30, 2010
Indians incorporated the new pigments into their traditions, expanding them and in the process creating an aesthetic nouvelle vague.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
He adds: “In fact, it already produced the Nouvelle Vague of people like François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
Linklater's "Nouvelle Vague," streaming on Netflix from November 14, charts how young French director Jean-Luc Godard defied all filmmaking convention to create his 1960 classic "Breathless."
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025
Fine Young Cannibals, Pete Yorn and France's Nouvelle Vague are among many other bands to have released cover versions of The Buzzcocks' 1978 hit.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2018
During that time, Ms. Wiazemsky met Godard, already renowned for his 1960 feature “Breathless,” which launched the La Nouvelle Vague, or the French New Wave movement.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 7, 2017
Eicher – quite rightly – opted to treat the soundtracks of Nouvelle Vague films as a form of modern-day opera.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 26, 2013
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.
