Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adverb In the past; at a former time; formerly.
- adjective Former.
from The Century Dictionary.
- At one time; formerly.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb Archaic Till then or now; heretofore; formerly.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb
Formerly ; in thepast . - adjective literary, law
Former ,previous .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective belonging to some prior time
- adverb at a previous time
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Quickly she called her erstwhile boyfriend Danny and warned him that the guy he found suspicious was now at another casino.
THE CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK! Toby O'B 2005
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I called my erstwhile visitor and told him I was going after them.
Will Liddy, G. Gordon 1980
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Definition of 'erstwhile' - I thought it meant strong and steadfast, instead it means former.
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Definition of 'erstwhile' - I thought it meant strong and steadfast, instead it means former.
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The scent of her hair was like a caress, but it did not recall the erstwhile pleasant memories that it should, for he frowned unobserved while he patted her shoulder soothingly.
THE PROPER “GIRLIE” 2010
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Perhaps recalling erstwhile love Kitty Floyd, who broke off their engagement, he made notes on breaches of promise to marry.
Law student James Madison rediscovered through lost notes 2010
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Do you really want to call the erstwhile Toby Keith fan that now believes the war cannot be won a wimp?
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Considering that most of that who form the core of COPE lost elections into leadership positions of the ANC last year alongside Thabo Mbeki, ANC Chairman known for sometime now as President in the waiting Jacob Zuma labels his erstwhile comrades as sore losers and political opportunists.
Democracy Goes on Trial in South Africa Ajong77 2009
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A bitter complaint to the Directory referred to his erstwhile commander in chief as “ce petit bougre.”
THE CAMPAIGNS OF NAPOLEON DAVID G. CHANDLER 1966
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A bitter complaint to the Directory referred to his erstwhile commander in chief as “ce petit bougre.”
THE CAMPAIGNS OF NAPOLEON DAVID G. CHANDLER 1966
kirinqueen commented on the word erstwhile
I've only seen this word used rhetorically to mean "previously mentioned."
June 20, 2008