erstwhile

Advancedzipf 2.90

Pronunciation

/ˈɜːstwaɪl/(URST-wile)

Part of speech

adjective / adverbformal

Chinese

以前的；从前的

Definition

Former; of a previous time.

Word family

  • (no major derivatives)

Collocations

  • erstwhile friend
  • erstwhile ally
  • erstwhile colleague
  • erstwhile rival

Examples

  1. 1.Her erstwhile ally became her biggest rival after the leadership contest. (former)
  2. 2.The erstwhile factory has been converted into luxury apartments. (previous)

Synonyms

  • former/ˈfɔːmə/— previous, general
  • previous/ˈpriːviəs/— coming before
  • one-time/ˈwʌntaɪm/— in the past

Etymology

from Old English "ǣr" (before) + "stwhile" (for a time) — for a previous time