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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

fresh.

Newly produced or obtained; recent.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/fɹɛʃ/
  1. Newly produced or obtained; recent.

    He followed the fresh hoofprints to find the deer.
    I seem to make fresh mistakes every time I start writing.
  2. Not dried, frozen, or spoiled.

    After taking a beating in the boxing ring, the left side of his face looked like fresh meat.
    I brought home from the market a nice bunch of fresh spinach leaves straight from the farm.
  3. (of plant material) Still green and not dried.

  4. Invigoratingly cool and refreshing.

    What a nice fresh breeze.
  5. Without salt; not saline.

    After a day at sea it was good to feel the fresh water of the stream.
  6. Rested; not tired or fatigued.

  7. In a raw or untried state; uncultured; unpracticed.

    a fresh hand on a ship
  8. Youthful; florid.

  9. Good, fashionable.

    slang
    a fresh pair of sneakers
  10. Tipsy; drunk.

    archaic · slang
Where this word comes from

From Middle English fressh, from Old English fersċ (“fresh, pure, sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *frisk (“fresh”), from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *preysk- (“fresh”). The verb is from Middle English freshen (“to freshen”), from the adjective. Cognate with Scots fresch (“fresh”), West Frisian farsk (“fresh”), Dutch vers (“fresh”), Walloon frexh (“fresh”), German frisch (“fresh”), French frais (“fresh”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk frisk (“fresh”), Swedish frisk (“well, fresh”), Icelandic ferskur (“fresh”), Lithuanian prėskas (“unflavoured, tasteless, fresh”), Russian пре́сный (présnyj, “sweet, fresh, unleavened, tasteless”). Doublet of fresco and frisk. Slang sense possibly shortened form of “fresh out the pack”, 1980s routine by Grand Wizzard Theodore.

adv/fɹɛʃ/
  1. Recently; just recently; most recently.

    not-comparable
    We are fresh out of milk.
    fresh-cooked salmon.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English fressh, from Old English fersċ (“fresh, pure, sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *frisk (“fresh”), from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *preysk- (“fresh”). The verb is from Middle English freshen (“to freshen”), from the adjective. Cognate with Scots fresch (“fresh”), West Frisian farsk (“fresh”), Dutch vers (“fresh”), Walloon frexh (“fresh”), German frisch (“fresh”), French frais (“fresh”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk frisk (“fresh”), Swedish frisk (“well, fresh”), Icelandic ferskur (“fresh”), Lithuanian prėskas (“unflavoured, tasteless, fresh”), Russian пре́сный (présnyj, “sweet, fresh, unleavened, tasteless”). Doublet of fresco and frisk. Slang sense possibly shortened form of “fresh out the pack”, 1980s routine by Grand Wizzard Theodore.

noun/fɹɛʃ/
  1. A rush of water, along a river or onto the land; a flood.

  2. A stream or spring of fresh water.

  3. The mingling of fresh water with salt in rivers or bays, as by means of a flood of fresh water flowing toward or into the sea.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English fressh, from Old English fersċ (“fresh, pure, sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *frisk (“fresh”), from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *preysk- (“fresh”). The verb is from Middle English freshen (“to freshen”), from the adjective. Cognate with Scots fresch (“fresh”), West Frisian farsk (“fresh”), Dutch vers (“fresh”), Walloon frexh (“fresh”), German frisch (“fresh”), French frais (“fresh”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk frisk (“fresh”), Swedish frisk (“well, fresh”), Icelandic ferskur (“fresh”), Lithuanian prėskas (“unflavoured, tasteless, fresh”), Russian пре́сный (présnyj, “sweet, fresh, unleavened, tasteless”). Doublet of fresco and frisk. Slang sense possibly shortened form of “fresh out the pack”, 1980s routine by Grand Wizzard Theodore.

verb/fɹɛʃ/
  1. To pack (fish) loosely on ice.

  2. To flood or dilute an area of salt water with flowing fresh water.

  3. To become stronger.

  4. To rebore the barrel of a rifle or shotgun.

  5. To update.

  6. To freshen up.

  7. To renew.

  8. Of a dairy cow, to give birth to a calf.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English fressh, from Old English fersċ (“fresh, pure, sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *frisk (“fresh”), from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *preysk- (“fresh”). The verb is from Middle English freshen (“to freshen”), from the adjective. Cognate with Scots fresch (“fresh”), West Frisian farsk (“fresh”), Dutch vers (“fresh”), Walloon frexh (“fresh”), German frisch (“fresh”), French frais (“fresh”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk frisk (“fresh”), Swedish frisk (“well, fresh”), Icelandic ferskur (“fresh”), Lithuanian prėskas (“unflavoured, tasteless, fresh”), Russian пре́сный (présnyj, “sweet, fresh, unleavened, tasteless”). Doublet of fresco and frisk. Slang sense possibly shortened form of “fresh out the pack”, 1980s routine by Grand Wizzard Theodore.

adj/fɹɛʃ/
  1. Rude, cheeky, or inappropriate; presumptuous; disrespectful; forward.

    idiomatic
    No one liked his fresh comments.
  2. Sexually aggressive or forward; prone to caress too eagerly; overly flirtatious.

    idiomatic
    Hey, don't get fresh with me!
Where this word comes from

First use appears c. 1848, US slang, probably from German frech (“impudent, cheeky, insolent”), from Middle High German vrech (“bold, brave, lively”), from Old High German freh (“greedy, eager, avaricious, covetous”), from Proto-West Germanic *frek, from Proto-Germanic *frekaz (“greedy, outrageous, courageous, capable, active”), from Proto-Indo-European *preg- (“to be quick, twitch, sprinkle, splash”). Cognate with Old English frec (“greedy; eager, bold, daring; dangerous”) and Danish fræk (“naughty”). More at freak.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.