- present participle of refresh.
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
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.
The tell-like-it-is prose of Swanson is refreshing and appreciating to read.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
She sees masking research as part of a "refreshing change" as autistic academics "bring lived experience into research".
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
With “Her Private Hell,” Thatcher has found an auteur who matches her refreshing self-assurance.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
“There’s a lot of refreshing of how the shoes can be worn.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
It was indeed refreshing, but no matter how much he drank, he felt parched.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
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.
