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erstwhile - definition and meaning
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
adverb adjective
from The Century Dictionary.
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 the past .adjective literary, law Former , previous .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
adjective adverb
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
erst + while
Support
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Examples
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
I called my erstwhile visitor and told him I was going after them.
Will Liddy, G. Gordon 1980
Definition of 'erstwhile ' - I thought it meant strong and steadfast, instead it means former.
Popular Posts Across MetaFilter 2010
Definition of 'erstwhile ' - I thought it meant strong and steadfast, instead it means former.
Popular Posts Across MetaFilter 2010
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
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
Do you really want to call the erstwhile Toby Keith fan that now believes the war cannot be won a wimp?
These Colors Don’t Run… - Swampland - TIME.com 2007
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
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
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