novelty
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Originality by virtue of being new and surprising.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nahvuhlteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnɑvəlti
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Originality by virtue of being refreshingly novel
The state of being new or novel; newness.
Originality by virtue of being new and surprising
A new product; an innovation.
A small inexpensive mass-produced article
A small mass-produced trinket.
adjective
In the design of a common household item, often impractically large, and meant primarily for display rather than functional use.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Originality by virtue of being refreshingly novel
Used this way, novelty is a reasonably familiar word with a mildly favourable edge. It turns up most in literature or storytelling and ethics or values contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly positive
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Positive and appreciative
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Literature/storytelling
- Ethics/values
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use novelty
- “It was a novelty to see a robot serving coffee there.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A shop that sells miscellaneous articles appropriate as gifts.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.