1. A cinematic movement that is characterized by improvisation, abstraction, and subjective symbolism and that often makes use of experimental photographic techniques
2. A new movement in a particular field

(music) In pop music, a style that evolved parallel to punk in the second half of the 1970s. It shared the urban aggressive spirit of punk but was musically and lyrically more sophisticated; examples are the early work of Elvis Costello and Talking Heads. New Wave underwent a revival in the 1990s.
(cinema) (French nouvelle vague) Movement in French cinema in the late 1950s and the 1960s characterized by an unconventional use of both camera and editing and by inventive and experimental manipulation of story line. Directors associated with the movement include Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard, and François Truffaut.
An art movement in French cinema in the 1960s; Also called: Nouvelle Vague.