For example, she always tries to keep up with the "newest" or "latest" fashion of clothing. In this case, are there any difference? If not, which one is more common? Also, for high-tech industry, are they same?
3 Answers
They are both literally the same in the sense that they indicate recentness in time. However "newest" is a more straightforward and general word. "Latest" is frequently applied in news, fashion, tech, or other contexts with a lot of change, and so it has a slight connotation that the thing is "hot", trendy, or otherwise important to people because of its newness.
It can also function as a noun, for example:
What's the latest?
is a (somewhat) idiomatic phrase meaning "What's the latest news?"
Both newest and latest can mean most recent. There is not much difference, in general. For example,
Have you heard the latest news?
means:
Have you heard the most recent news?
But native speakers do not ask
Have you heard the newest news?
because that sounds silly.
In the clothing (do you mean fashion industry?), the newest designs (aka fads) are by definition and by usage equal to the latest designs. However, in my experience as a native speaker, the adjective latest design(s) is more common (and perhaps preferred) than the newest design(s), although this may vary by context. The best way to discover this for yourself is to do your own research (get more exposure to English). Perhaps you could read some fashion websites.
The gist of this answer applies to the high-tech industry.
Thanks for asking such a good question. I hope you are happy with this answer, and that you will augment your knowledge of English not only by asking questions but by doing your own research and by getting more exposure to the language in real life, meaningful contexts. Thus you will learn how to fish and not just be given a fish (an answer you are liable to forget).
I live in a commonwealth country, therefore we use the Queen's English. Now that being said, there's no such thing as 'newest' only 'latest' exists. To say I'm wrong is to say my English teach is also wrong, whom by the way, went to Oxford to learn English.
To further solidify what I'm saying is true, you can go to Oxford's dictionary online. You will not find that word 'newest'. On the other hand, you can find the word 'latest'.
I don't know about American English and the like though, they are very forgiving.
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1Hi, and welcome to ELL. Please take the tour and consider how you might improve your answer. As it stands, this sounds like opinion; can you quote and link to references that indicate your answer reflects actual usage among English speakers?– DavoCommented Oct 23, 2020 at 11:21
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I already did. It seems you cannot comprehend what I have said.– SupermanCommented Oct 24, 2020 at 15:06