1. Often New Wave (n wĀv) A movement in French cinema in the 1960's, led by directors such as Jean Luc Godard and François Truffaut, that abandoned traditional narrative techniques in favor of greater use of symbolism and abstraction and dealt with themes of social alienation, psychopathology, and sexual love. Also called nouvelle vague.
2. An avant-garde or experimental movement, as in the arts.
3. Music. An emotionally detached style of rock music marked by the use of synthesized sound and a repetitive beat.