heretofore

adverb here·to·fore \ ˈhir-tə-ˌfȯr , ˌhir-tə-ˈfȯr \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

Definition of heretofore

: up to this time : hitherto

heretofore unimaginable possibilities

I tell you now what we have heretofore kept secret from you
—A. C. Whitehead

See heretofore defined for English-language learners

See heretofore defined for kids

Examples of heretofore in a Sentence

Heretofore her writing has never displayed such depth of feeling.
This technology has created heretofore unimaginable possibilities.

Recent Examples of heretofore from the Web

Young girls around the world taking up golf can now aspire to a heretofore unfathomable ambition: winning a national women’s championship at the celebrated home of the Masters.

— bill pennington, New York Times, "Augusta National Takes an Unexpected Turn Toward Women’s Golf," 4 Apr. 2018
Fletcher said that, like most police departments, Calumet City has heretofore relied on imperfect information from witnesses and 911 callers to respond to and investigate incidents of gunfire.

— zak koeske, Daily Southtown, "ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system, goes live in Calumet City," 4 Apr. 2018
Even those preferring not to deal in decimals will recognize that as about one eighth of an inch more than the .37 inches that fell on Jan. 12, which had heretofore held the title of the year’s wettest day in Washington.

— martin weil, Washington Post, "Washington’s wettest day of 2018 was Sunday," 4 Feb. 2018
The future existence of this rocket, and the need for NASA to find missions to utilize it, encourages the rare and expensive model of science spacecraft NASA has followed heretofore.

— eric berger, Ars Technica, "Forget the Falcon Heavy’s payload and focus on where the rocket will go," 2 Feb. 2018
Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg The Rebirth The Aston Martin Lagonda Vision Concept aims to revive the historic, heretofore defunct Lagonda brand in fully electric mode.

— hannah elliott, Bloomberg.com, "The Best Cars of the Geneva Motor Show, in Pictures," 7 Mar. 2018
As is her way, the book will most likely be earnest, with dashes of the former first lady’s signature wit, and touch on race, class and gender, hopefully revealing some things heretofore unknown.

— angela helm, The Root, "If You Thought Black Panther’s Numbers Were Sick, Wait Until the Release of Michelle Obama’s Memoir This Fall," 26 Feb. 2018
Besides, Ryan’s record as a civil liberties champion has been heretofore well-camouflaged.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "Paul Ryan Has Been Upgraded to Biggest Fake in the Galaxy," 1 Feb. 2018
Well, technically speaking, plus-size clothing can be tricky for heretofore straight-size designers to make.

— nora whelan, The Cut, "London Fashion Week Has a Body Diversity Problem," 22 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'heretofore.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.