| 1. | a movement, trend, or vogue, as in art, literature, or politics, that breaks with traditional concepts, values, techniques, or the like. |
| 2. | (often initial capital letters ) a group of leaders or representatives of such a movement, esp. of French film directors of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Compare nouvelle vague. |
| 3. | (often initial capital letters) a largely minimalist but emotionally intense style of rock music, being an outgrowth of punk rock in the late 1970s, typified by spare or repetitive arrangements, and emphasizing energetic, unpolished performance. |
| new wave n.
[Translation of French nouvelle vague : nouvelle, new + vague, wave.] |
new wave
category of popular music spanning the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Taking its name from the French New Wave cinema of the late 1950s, this catchall classification was defined in opposition to punk (which was generally more raw, rough edged, and political) and to mainstream "corporate" rock (which many new wave upstarts considered complacent and creatively stagnant). The basic principle behind new wave was the same as that of punk-anyone can start a band-but new wave artists, influenced by the lighter side of 1960s pop music and 1950s fashion, were more commercially viable than their abrasive counterparts.
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