newbie

• noobie

Uncertain: perhaps an alteration of newie with intrusive b (compare freebie), possibly a blend of newborn +‎ baby, or perhaps a shortening of new boy or new beginner.

• IPA^(key): /ˈnjuːbi/, /ˈnuːbi/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːbi

newbie (plural newbies)

1. (slang) A newcomer, someone new to something. [from 20th c.]

   He was a newbie to chemistry.

   • 2020 January 23, Scottie Andrew, Allen Kim and Tiffany Baker, “How to talk about the Grammys best new artist nominees like a pro”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     We’ve included some other acts you already know so you’ll get a feel for what the newbies sound like.

   • 2024 September 13 [2023 March 31], Shane Duquette and Marco Walker-Ng, “The Newbie Gains Guide for Skinny Guys”, in Bony to Beastly‎^[2]:

     If you’re starting off skinny, you can probably get newbie gains for several months.

2. (Internet) A new user or participant; someone who is extremely new and inexperienced (to a game or activity). A beginner.
3. (slang) Anything recently introduced into a setting, especially something that replaces an older version.
   • 2005, Rickford Grant, Linux Made Easy: The Official Guide to Xandros 3 for Everyday Users, San Francisco: No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 155:

     If you find that you would prefer using the new printer most of the time, while using the original only when needed, you can make the newbie the default printer for your system.

• The term "newbie" was greatly popularized with the advent of the Internet, but was in use before then.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:newbie.

• novice
• newcomer
• newling
• rookie
• See also Thesaurus:beginner

• knowbie

• midbie
• oldbie