New vs. Old

New vs. Old — Is There a Difference?
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Difference Between New and Old

Newadjective

Recently made, or created.

This is a new scratch on my car!The band just released a new album.

Oldadjective

Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.

an old abandoned building;an old friend

Newadjective

Additional; recently discovered.

We turned up some new evidence from the old files.

Oldadjective

Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.

a wrinkled old man

Newadjective

Current or later, as opposed to former.

My new car is much better than my previous one, even though it is older.We had been in our new house for five years by then.

Oldadjective

Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.

an old loaf of bread
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Newadjective

Used to distinguish something established more recently, named after something or some place previously existing.

New Bond Street is an extension of Bond Street.

Oldadjective

Of an item that has been used and so is not new unused.

I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with.

Newadjective

In original condition; pristine; not previously worn or used.

Are you going to buy a new car or a second-hand one?

Oldadjective

Having existed or lived for the specified time.

How old are they? She’s five years old and he's seven. We also have a young teen and a two-year-old child.My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old.

Newadjective

Refreshed, reinvigorated, reformed.

That shirt is dirty. Go and put on a new one.I feel like a new person after a good night's sleep.After the accident, I saw the world with new eyes.

Oldadjective

(heading) Of an earlier time.

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Newadjective

Newborn.

My sister has a new baby, and our mother is excited to finally have a grandchild.

Oldadjective

Former, previous.

My new car is not as good as my old one.a school reunion for Old Etonians

Newadjective

Of recent origin; having taken place recently.

I can't see you for a while; the pain is still too new.Did you see the new King Lear at the theatre?

Oldadjective

That is no longer in existence.

The footpath follows the route of an old railway line.

Newadjective

Strange, unfamiliar or not previously known.

The idea was new to me.I need to meet new people.

Oldadjective

Obsolete; out-of-date.

That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way.

Newadjective

Recently arrived or appeared.

Have you met the new guy in town?He is the new kid at school.

Oldadjective

Familiar.

When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho.

Newadjective

Inexperienced or unaccustomed at some task.

Don't worry that you're new at this job; you'll get better with time.I'm new at this business.

Oldadjective

Tiresome.

Your constant pestering is getting old.

Newadjective

(of a period of time) Next; about to begin or recently begun.

We expect to grow at 10% annually in the new decade.

Oldadjective

Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.

Newadverb

Newly (especially in composition).

new-born, new-formed, new-found, new-mown

Oldadjective

A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)

We're having a good old time.My next car will be a big old SUV.My wife makes the best little old apple pie in Texas.

Newadverb

As new; from scratch.

They are scraping the site clean to build new.

Oldadjective

(obsolete) Excessive, abundant.

Newnoun

Things that are new.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Oldnoun

(with "the") People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group.

A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.

Newnoun

(Australia) A kind of light beer.

Oldnoun

past times (especially in the phrase `in days of old')

Newverb

(obsolete) To make new; to recreate; to renew.

Oldadjective

(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age; especially not young; often used as a combining form to indicate an age as specified as in `a week-old baby';

an old man's eagle mindhis mother is very olda ripe old agehow old are you?

Newadjective

not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered;

a new lawnew carsa new cometa new frienda new yearthe New World

Oldadjective

of long duration; not new;

old traditionold houseold wineold countryold friendshipsold money

Newadjective

other than the former one(s); different;

they now have a new leadersmy new car is four years old but has only 15,000 miles on itready to take a new direction

Oldadjective

of an earlier time;

his old classmates

Newadjective

having no previous example or precedent or parallel;

a time of unexampled prosperity

Oldadjective

(used for emphasis) very familiar;

good old boysame old story

Newadjective

of a kind not seen before;

the computer produced a completely novel proof of a well-known theorem

Oldadjective

lacking originality or spontaneity; no longer new;

moth-eaten theories about race

Newadjective

lacking training or experience;

the new men were eager to fightraw recruitshe was still wet behind the ears when he shipped as a hand on a merchant vessel

Oldadjective

just preceding something else in time or order;

the previous ownermy old house was larger

Newadjective

of a new (often outrageous) kind or fashion

Oldadjective

of a very early stage in development;

Old English is also called Anglo SaxonOld High German is High German from the middle of the 9th to the end of the 11th century

Newadjective

(often followed by `to') unfamiliar;

new experiencesexperiences new to himerrors of someone new to the job

Oldadjective

old in experience;

an old offenderthe older soldiers

Newadjective

(of crops) harvested at an early stage of development; before complete maturity;

new potatoesyoung corn

Oldadjective

used informally especially for emphasis;

a real honest-to-god live cowboyhad us a high old timewent upriver to look at a sure-enough fish wheel

Newadjective

unaffected by use or exposure;

it looks like new

Newadjective

in use after Medieval times;

New Eqyptian was the language of the 18th to 21st dynasties

Newadjective

used of a living language; being the current stage in its development;

Modern EnglishNew Hebrew is Israeli Hebrew

Newadverb

very recently;

they are newly marriednewly raised objectionsa newly arranged hairdograss new washed by the raina freshly cleaned floorwe are fresh out of tomatoes