- present participle of refresh.
refreshing
Americanadjective
-
having the power to restore freshness, vitality, energy, etc..
a refreshing nap.
-
pleasingly fresh or different.
a refreshing lack of pretense.
adjective
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able to or tending to refresh; invigorating
-
pleasantly different or novel
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of refreshing
Explanation
Something is refreshing if it reinvigorates you, or seems new and exciting. The offer of a refreshing glass of iced tea would be especially refreshing if it came from your normally cranky sister. Mint toothpaste is refreshing — clean and brisk — and a cool ocean breeze is refreshing on a hot day. If you're used to seeing wilted salads and pale lasagna in your school cafeteria every day, a refreshing change would be a taco bar or homemade pizza. Refreshing comes from the verb refresh, which has a Germanic root similar to frisc, "fresh" in Old High German.
Vocabulary lists containing refreshing
Words to Describe a Movie
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Words to Describe Food
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American Street
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s festive, refreshing and can be mostly prepared ahead.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2026
“To write a film about Lorca and the Civil War called for something refreshing, something pop, something that entices you to look at the screen, something new — and he has it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Competition from rivals is increasing, including from 7 Brew, a privately held drive-through coffee chain, and larger players such as Starbucks, which is undergoing a turnaround and refreshing its drink menu, analysts said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
From going unbeaten in his opening nine games with a refreshing brand of football, the consensus was things had gone flat and that the head coach was bearing the brunt of it.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
I turned to ask Mom but she was in the middle of refreshing her red lipstick, and when Dr. Mertz appeared from his office door she quickly hopped up.
From "Dead End in Norvelt" by Jack Gantos
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
