erstwhile 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of erstwhilenext
as in former
having been such at some previous time my erstwhile friend ignored me when I ran into her at the reunion

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

erstwhile

2 of 2

adverb

as in formerly
at an earlier or previous time there's now a store where erstwhile lay green and pleasant pastures

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Thesaurus Entries Near erstwhile

ersatz

erstwhile

eruct

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Erstwhile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/erstwhile. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on erstwhile

Nglish: Translation of erstwhile for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of erstwhile for Arabic Speakers

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Games & Quizzes

Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. Pick the best ones!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...