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cutting-edge

/ˈkʌɾɪŋɛdʒ/
/ˈkʌtɪŋɛdʒ/
IPA guide

Something that's cutting-edge is the very latest or the most stylish. If you always covet the newest kind of cellphone, you could say that you like cutting-edge technology.

The adjective cutting-edge often describes new advances in science or technology — a hospital might advertise its use of cutting-edge cancer treatments, for example. Art can be described as cutting-edge as well, if it uses innovative techniques or does something completely new. The word cutting-edge has only been used in this figurative way since the mid-1960s; before that it literally meant "the edge of a tool's blade."

Definitions of cutting-edge
  1. adjective
    in accord with the most fashionable ideas or style
    cutting-edge technology”
    synonyms: up-to-date, with it, with-it
    fashionable, stylish
    being or in accordance with current social fashions
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘cutting-edge'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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