What does "neoteric" mean?

A modern author (especially as opposed to a classical writer).

What is a synonym for "neoteric"?

Common synonyms include: arriviste, callow, comer, dewy, evergreen, firsthand.

Pronounced //niːə(ʊ)ˈtɛɹɪk//.

//niːə(ʊ)ˈtɛɹɪk// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A modern author (especially as opposed to a classical writer).
"Galen himself writes promiscuously of them both by reason of their affinity; but most of our neoterics do handle them apart, whom I will follow in this treatise."
2
Someone with new or modern ideas.
3
any poet who belonged to the neoterics, a series of avant-garde Latin poets who wrote in the 1st century BC such as Catullus, Helvius Cinna, Publius Valerius Cato, Marcus Furius Bibaculus and Quintus Cornificius. historical

Adjective

1
Modern, new-fangled. not-comparable
"Among our neoteric verbs, those in -ize are exceedingly numerous."
2
New; recent. not-comparable
"Should it all come crashing in on us . . . will there be enough luddites, whose hands remember, to free us from the chains of neoteric technology?"

"Among our neoteric verbs, those in -ize are exceedingly numerous."

From Late Latin neotericus, from Hellenistic Greek νεωτερικός (neōterikós), from comparative of Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “new”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.