refreshing
Americanadjective
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having the power to restore freshness, vitality, energy, etc..
a refreshing nap.
-
pleasingly fresh or different.
a refreshing lack of pretense.
adjective
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able to or tending to refresh; invigorating
-
pleasantly different or novel
Other Word Forms
- refreshingly adverb
- refreshingness noun
- unrefreshing adjective
- unrefreshingly adverb
Etymology
Origin of refreshing
Explanation
Something is refreshing if it reinvigorates you, or seems new and exciting. The offer of a refreshing glass of iced tea would be especially refreshing if it came from your normally cranky sister. Mint toothpaste is refreshing — clean and brisk — and a cool ocean breeze is refreshing on a hot day. If you're used to seeing wilted salads and pale lasagna in your school cafeteria every day, a refreshing change would be a taco bar or homemade pizza. Refreshing comes from the verb refresh, which has a Germanic root similar to frisc, "fresh" in Old High German.
Vocabulary lists containing refreshing
Words to Describe a Movie
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Words to Describe Food
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American Street
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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.
“I’m constantly pricing out airfare, and the best deals typically don’t come from refreshing your browser 47 times.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 20, 2026
It’s so refreshing to see hotels that don’t nickel-and-dime you.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
What about Alex Honnold — his candor is refreshing but he still seems eager to puncture Dean’s mystique.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
With her working week deep in the world of AI, she says it's refreshing to use her hands to make something tangible.
From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026
Marty was like announcing, “Okay, we’ll go out and get some of the great beverage of Coke, with its refreshing flavor,” but no one was really rattling that way now.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
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.
