fresh
/fɹɛʃ/adjective, adverb, noun, verb
fresh is spelled F-R-E-S-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 68 times per million words in written English, the 1,562nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, fresh means “Newly produced or obtained; recent” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in fresh?
| Letters | 5: F-R-E-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 68 times per million words; the 1,562nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is fresh?
Fresh appears 68 times per million words in written English, the 1,562nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fresh?
- /fɹɛʃ/
Fresh has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-fresh.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of fresh
- fresher comparative
- freshest superlative
- freshes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- freshing participle, present
- freshed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fresh mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Newly produced or obtained; recent.
He followed the fresh hoofprints to find the deer.
- 2
Not dried, frozen, or spoiled.
After taking a beating in the boxing ring, the left side of his face looked like fresh meat.
- 3
(of plant material) Still green and not dried.
- 4
Invigoratingly cool and refreshing.
What a nice fresh breeze.
- 5
Without salt; not saline.
After a day at sea it was good to feel the fresh water of the stream.
- 6
Rested; not tired or fatigued.
- 7
In a raw or untried state; uncultured; unpracticed.
a fresh hand on a ship
- 8
Youthful; florid.
- 9
Rude, cheeky, or inappropriate; presumptuous; disrespectful; forward.
No one liked his fresh comments.
- 10
Sexually aggressive or forward; prone to caress too eagerly; overly flirtatious.
Hey, don't get fresh with me!
adverb
- 1
Recently; just recently; most recently.
We are fresh out of milk.
noun
- 1
A rush of water, along a river or onto the land; a flood.
- 2
A stream or spring of fresh water.
- 3
The mingling of fresh water with salt in rivers or bays, as by means of a flood of fresh water flowing toward or into the sea.
verb
- 1
To pack (fish) loosely on ice.
- 2
To flood or dilute an area of salt water with flowing fresh water.
- 3
To become stronger.
- 4
To rebore the barrel of a rifle or shotgun.
- 5
To update.
- 6
To freshen up.
- 7
To renew.
- 8
Of a dairy cow, to give birth to a calf.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fresh in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | nouveau , frais , rafraichissant , doux |
| German | frisch , frech |
| Portuguese | fresco , refrescante , doce , grosseiro, rude, mal-educado |
| Spanish | fresco, hodierno, recién servido , simple, dulce , grosero |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fresh come from?
From Middle English fressh, from Old English fersċ (“fresh, pure, sweet”), from Proto-West Germanic *frisk (“fresh”), from Proto-Germanic *friskaz (“fresh”), from Proto-Indo-European *preysk- (“fresh”). The verb is from Middle English freshen (“to freshen”), from the adjective.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).