Standard Lemma guide

neologism

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /niːˈɒləd͡ʒɪzəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /niˈɑləˌd͡ʒɪzəm/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A word or phrase which has recently been coined; a new word or phrase.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

Topics: human-sciences, lexicography, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: coinage, neoterism

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An existing word or phrase which has gained a new meaning.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, countable

Topics: human-sciences, lexicography, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The act or instance of coining, or uttering a new word.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

The newly coined, meaningless words or phrases of someone with a psychosis, usually schizophrenia.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, medicine, psychiatry, psychology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Synonym of neology.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, historical, uncountable

Topics: lifestyle, religion, theology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: neology

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

the act of inventing a word or phrase

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: neology, coinage

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: invention

7

noun

Meaning 7

a newly invented word or phrase

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: neology, coinage

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: word

Narrower terms: blend, portmanteau word, portmanteau

History

Etymology

From French néologisme, from Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “new”) + λόγος (lógos, “word”) + -ism.

Across languages

Translations

74 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: مُوَلَّدَة (muwallada) — recently coined word
  • Armenian: նորաբանություն (norabanutʻyun) — recently coined word
  • Basque: neologismo — recently coined word
  • Breton: nevezc'her — recently coined word
  • Bulgarian: неологизъм (neologizǎm) — recently coined word
  • Catalan: neologisme — recently coined word
  • Chinese Mandarin: 新詞語 /新词语 (xīncíyǔ) — recently coined word
  • Chinese Mandarin: 新詞 /新词 (xīncí) — recently coined word
  • Czech: novotvar — recently coined word
  • Czech: neologismus — recently coined word
  • Danish: neologisme — recently coined word
  • Dutch: neologisme — recently coined word
  • Esperanto: neologismo — recently coined word
  • Estonian: uudissõna — recently coined word
  • Estonian: neologism — recently coined word
  • Faroese: nýggjyrði — recently coined word
  • Finnish: uudismuodoste — recently coined word
  • Finnish: uudissana — recently coined word
  • French: néologisme — recently coined word
  • Galician: neoloxismo — recently coined word
  • Georgian: ნეოლოგიზმი (neologizmi) — recently coined word
  • German: Neologismus — recently coined word
  • Greek: νεολογισμός (neologismós) — recently coined word
  • Hebrew: תַּחְדִּישׁ (takhdish) — recently coined word
  • Hungarian: neologizmus — recently coined word
  • Hungarian: új szó — recently coined word
  • Hungarian: újonnan alkotott szó — recently coined word
  • Icelandic: nýyrði — recently coined word
  • Irish: nuafhocal — recently coined word
  • Italian: neologismo — recently coined word
  • Japanese: 新語 (shingo) — recently coined word
  • Japanese: 新造語 (shinzōgo) — recently coined word
  • Japanese: 造語 (zōgo) — recently coined word
  • Kazakh: жаңа сөз (jaña söz) — recently coined word
  • Korean: 신어 (sineo) — recently coined word
  • Korean: 신조어 (sinjo'eo) — recently coined word
  • Latin: neologismus — recently coined word
  • Latvian: jaunvārds — recently coined word
  • Latvian: neoloģisms — recently coined word
  • Lithuanian: naujadaras — recently coined word
  • Lithuanian: neologizmas — recently coined word
  • Macedonian: новотвореница (novotvorenica) — recently coined word
  • Macedonian: неологизам (neologizam) — recently coined word
  • Manx: noa-ockle — recently coined word
  • Norwegian Bokmål: neologisme — recently coined word
  • Norwegian Bokmål: nyord — recently coined word
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: neologisme — recently coined word
  • Persian: نوواژه (now-vâže) — recently coined word
  • Polish: neologizm — recently coined word
  • Polish: nowosłów — recently coined word
  • Polish: nowosłowie — recently coined word
  • Polish: nowotwór — recently coined word
  • Portuguese: neologismo — recently coined word
  • Romanian: neologism — recently coined word
  • Russian: неологи́зм (neologízm) — recently coined word
  • Serbo-Croatian: neologizam — recently coined word
  • Serbo-Croatian: novotvorenica — recently coined word
  • Slovak: neologizmus — recently coined word
  • Spanish: neologismo — recently coined word
  • Swedish: neologism — recently coined word
  • Turkish: yenici deyim — recently coined word
  • Turkish: neolojizm — recently coined word
  • Turkish: türenti — recently coined word
  • Turkish: yenicillik — recently coined word
  • Turkish: yenicil deyim — recently coined word
  • Udmurt: вылькыл (vyľkyl) — recently coined word
  • Walloon: noûmot — recently coined word
  • Welsh: newyddair — recently coined word
  • Arabic: تَوْلِيد (tawlīd) — instance of coinage
  • Armenian: նորաբանություն (norabanutʻyun) — instance of coinage
  • Hungarian: szóalkotás — instance of coinage
  • Hungarian: szóújítás — instance of coinage
  • Greek: νεολογισμός (neologismós) — schizophrenic meaningless word
  • Norwegian: neologisme — schizophrenic meaningless word