/n[y]oo' bee/ (Originally from British public-school and military slang variant of "new boy") An inexperienced user of Usenet or other system. This term surfaced in the newsgroupnews:talk.bizarre but is now in wide use. Criteria for being considered a newbie vary wildly a person can be called a newbie in one newsgroup while remaining a respected regular in another. The label "newbie" is sometimes applied as a serious insult to a person who has been around Usenet for a long time but who carefully hides all evidence of having a clue. See BIFF. [Jargon File] (1998-02-18)
