Meaning & use
new life
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A completely different way of living that someone begins after a big change.
Grammar: Usually used with a/an or a possessive: start a new life, begin their new life.
Patterns
- start a new life
- begin a new life
- build a new life
- give someone a new life
After the divorce, she moved to the coast and started a new life.
He came out of prison determined to build a new life for himself.
The money from the insurance gave the family a new life in another city.
noununcountablefigurative
Fresh energy, purpose, or interest that something or someone receives.
Grammar: Often used in the phrase 'a new life into something', meaning new energy is added.
Patterns
- breathe new life into something
- bring new life to something
- give something new life
The new director breathed new life into the failing theater.
A coat of bright paint brought new life to the old kitchen.
Volunteers have given new life to the neighborhood park.
Common combinations
- start a new life
- They sold everything and started a new life abroad.
- a whole new life
- Winning the scholarship opened up a whole new life for her.
- breathe new life into something
- The festival has breathed new life into the town center.
- a new life together
- The couple began a new life together in a small apartment.
- give someone a new life
- The operation gave him a new life free of pain.
Synonyms and how they differ
- fresh start
- Focuses on the moment of beginning again rather than the whole way of living that follows.
- change of scene
- Means a different place or environment; it does not necessarily suggest a whole different way of life.
Word family
Commonly confused: new life or newly?
new life vs newly
'Newly' is an adverb meaning 'recently' (newly married); 'new life' is a noun phrase, so they are not interchangeable.
Practice
After losing his job, Tom decided to ___ a new life in another country.
Choose one answer.
'Start a new life' is the usual collocation for beginning a different way of living. 'Make a life' can appear but is far less common, and 'do' and 'take' do not combine with 'a new life' in this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “new life”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.