novelty

From Middle English novelte, from Old French novelté (Modern French nouveauté), from the adjective novel, ultimately from Latin novellus. By surface analysis, novel +‎ -ty.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈnɑvəlti/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈnɒvəlti/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: nov‧el‧ty

novelty (countable and uncountable, plural novelties)

1. The state of being new or novel; newness.
   • 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 28:

     It was by no means pleasant to realize that there was an unknown number of menaces up there over your head, quietly circling and circling until someone should arrange for them to drop - and that there was nothing to be done about them. Still, life has to go on - and novelty is a wonderfully short-lived thing. One became used to the idea perforce.

   • 2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 25 July 2012:

     Men In Black 3 lacks the novelty of the first film, and its take on the late ’60s feels an awful lot like a psychedelic dress-up party, all broad caricatures and groovy vibes.

2. A new product; an innovation.
   • 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 10:

     Reconciling profound enquiry with clearness, and truth with novelty.

3. A small mass-produced trinket.
   • 2025 December 12, Kaitlan Collins, Annie Grayer, “New photos released from Epstein’s estate showing Trump, Bannon, Bill Clinton and other high-profile people”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     One released image shows Trump with six women with leis whose faces were redacted by committee members, while another depicts what appears to be a bowl of novelty condoms with a caricature of Trump’s face with the text, “I’m HUUUUGE!” The condoms – shown in a bowl with a “Trump condom $4.50” sign – were produced by a novelty shop in New York City named Fishs Eddy.

4. In novelty theory, newness, density of complexification, and dynamic change as opposed to static habituation.
5. (chess) An opening move played for the first time ever (in high-level chess).
   • 2007 May 27, Dylan Loeb Mcclain, “What Defines the Very Best? For Topalov, It's Fearlessness”, in The New York Times‎^[3], archived from the original on 26 November 2022:

     Topalov has unveiled some interesting novelties lately, but there was nothing unusual in his opening here. Sasikiran played the Nimzo-Indian, and Topalov replied with probably the most classical continuation.

   • 2012 December 18, Malcolm Pein, “Bundesliga chess revelation”, in The Daily Telegraph‎^[4], archived from the original on 5 February 2023:

     It's not often a novelty comes as early as move seven nowadays, but in the latest round of the German Bundesliga, a recently discovered seventh move was employed to win a lovely game.

   • 2021 June 25, Leonard Barden, “Chess: Carlsen takes on No 1 junior, No 1 woman and No 1 rival on same afternoon”, in The Guardian‎^[5], archived from the original on 29 January 2022:

     The Russian champion still did very well. Nepomniachtchi was only a wildcard, yet played with full force including an interesting novelty in the much analysed Berlin Wall Ruy Lopez.

novelty (not comparable)

1. In the design of a common household item, often impractically large, and meant primarily for display rather than functional use.

   My novelty calculator works fine but it hurts my hands to press the keys.

• novelty act
• novelty song
• novelty theory