Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective New to one's experience; not encountered before.
  • adjective Unusual or different: synonym: new.
  • adjective Recently made, produced, or harvested; not stale or spoiled.
  • adjective Not preserved, as by canning, smoking, or freezing.
  • adjective Not saline or salty.
  • adjective Not yet used or soiled; clean.
  • adjective Free from impurity or pollution; pure.
  • adjective Not dull or faded.
  • adjective Fairly strong and often cool; brisk.
  • adjective Having just arrived.
  • adjective Untried or trained but not experienced.
  • adjective Revived or reinvigorated; refreshed.
  • adjective Rested and ready for a long ride. Used of horses.
  • adjective Having the glowing or unspoiled appearance of youth.
  • adjective Having recently calved and therefore with milk. Used of a cow.
  • adjective Informal Bold and saucy; impudent.
  • adjective Slang Excellent; first-rate.
  • adverb Recently; newly.
  • noun The early part.
  • noun A freshet.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Freshly.
  • Noting a cow that has recently given birth to a calf.
  • Having its original qualities; unimpaired in vigor or purity; not weakened, faded, tainted, or decayed; not stale or worn: as, a fresh voice; a fresh complexion; events still fresh in the memory; to keep meat or flowers fresh.
  • Of unimpaired physical or mental condition; having full natural vigor, activity, beauty, bloom, etc.; hearty; sound; brisk; lively.
  • In a refreshed condition; freshened; reinvigorated; strengthened or purified: as, the troops were now fresh for action; to put on fresh linen.
  • New; recent; novel; newly produced, obtained, occurring, arriving, etc.: as, coins fresh from the mint; a fresh coat of paint; fresh tidings; a fresh misfortune; to take a fresh sheet of paper.
  • Hence Unpractised; untried; inexperienced; unsophisticated: as, a fresh hand on a ship; a fresh youth.
  • Cool; refreshing; invigorating; imparting strength or refreshment; in nautical language, moderately strong or brisk: as, a draught of fresh water; a breath of fresh air; a fresh breeze.
  • Not salt, salted, or pickled; not brackish: as, fresh meat or codfish; fresh water.
  • Bright; brilliant.
  • Tipsy.
  • Sober; not tipsy.
  • Verdant and conceited; presuming through ignorance and conceit; forward; officious. Compare cool.
  • Open; not frosty.
  • Novel, Recent, etc. See new.
  • Untrained, unskilled, raw.
  • noun A flood; a stream in overflow; an inundation; a freshet.
  • noun Figuratively, a flood or rush of persons.
  • noun A spring or brook of fresh water; a small tributary stream.
  • noun A stream or current of fresh water running into tide-water.
  • noun The mingling of fresh water with salt in rivers or bays, or the increased current of an ebb-tide caused by a great volume of fresh water flowing into the sea.
  • noun Open weather; a day of open weather; a thaw.
  • noun A freshman.
  • To refresh.
  • To grow fresh; freshen.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English fersc, pure, not salty, and from Old French freis (feminine fresche), new, recent, of Germanic origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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-Germanic *frekaz (“greedy, outrageous, courageous, capable, active”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pereg- (“to be quick, twitch, sprinkle, splash”). Cognate with Old English frec ("greedy; eager, bold, daring; dangerous"). More at freak.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English fresch, fersch, from Old English fersc ("fresh, pure, sweet"), from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *preisk- (“fresh”). Cognate with Scots fresch ("fresh"), West Frisian farsk ("fresh"), Dutch vers ("fresh"), German frisch ("fresh"), French frais ("fresh"), Danish frisk ("fresh"), Icelandic ferskur ("fresh"), Lithuanian prėskas ("unflavoured, tasteless, fresh"), Russian пресный (pr'ésnyj, "sweet, fresh, unleavened, tasteless").

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Examples

Comments

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  • "Pour some fresh in Miss Nicholl's glass."

    —Dorothy Parker, 'The Bolt behind the Blue'

    Not sure what the grammar here is. Is 'fresh' being used as a noun, meaning "fresh drink", or is it a predicative complement (analogous to the adjectives in 'drink some neat', 'drink the milk cold')?

    November 12, 2008

  • I sort of like it as a noun.

    November 12, 2008

  • These are my favorites from the Century:

    "Tipsy."

    "Sober; not tipsy."

    October 10, 2017

  • Ideal term for an alcoholic in denial, then.

    October 11, 2017