nouvelle vague

noun

nü-ˈvel-ˈväg 

1

: new wave sense 1

2

: new wave sense 2

Examples of nouvelle vague in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Then there’s the Trawler, part of the nouvelle vague of Los Angeles serial killers operating in Charles Manson’s wake — peer to the Night Stalker and the Hillside Strangler — and prefacing his grotesque murders with sadistic taunting. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 5 Aug. 2026

Madonna was stopped dead in her tracks by the strapping 30-year-old auteur of the nouvelle vague gangster movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, an eye-popping directorial debut. — Hamish Bowles, Vogue, 5 July 2026

Throughout the ’50s, her appearance in risqué French films, some directed by then-husband Roger Vadim, endeared her to future giants of the nouvelle vague. — Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 28 Dec. 2025

Black rollnecks now feel nouvelle vague; prairie dresses look all the more saccharine; blouses with eccentric necklines have their time to shine now that my hair isn't concealing the main event. — Georgia Murray, refinery29.com, 15 Apr. 2020

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for nouvelle vague

• craig
• plague