throwback 1 of 2

as in fogy
a person or thing that is similar to someone or something from the past or that is suited to an earlier time
usually + to
She's a throwback to the actresses of the 1950s. The band's music is a throwback to the 1980s.

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throw back

2 of 2

verb

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of throwback
Noun
Furtado’s carousel post opened with a throwback photo of herself at 20, just before her first professional performance at Lilith Fair in 1999. Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 25 Oct. 2025 Debuting the Quebec Nordiques throwbacks for the first time, the Avalanche had turnover and defending troubles early and power-play struggles throughout until Nichushkin came through late to steal a point in a 5-4 shootout loss against the Carolina Hurricanes at Ball Arena. Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 24 Oct. 2025 The song feels like a throwback to the 2010s, when dark, electronica pop dominated the airwaves. Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2025 In that light, Tomi’s wardrobe throwback can be seen not just as a humorous fashion gag but as a symbol of returning to an earlier version of oneself. Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for throwback
Recent Examples of Synonyms for throwback
Noun
  • Old fogey-ish, ungrateful and stupid.
    Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 10 Sep. 2025
  • These are people who know AI and have grown up with this stuff that these old fogies haven't.
    Alison Snyder, Axios, 23 Feb. 2025
Verb
  • Other big stories ➤ More than 350 residents from Marana and surrounding southern Arizona communities gathered to criticize Management and Training Corporation's refusal to communicate on whether a shuttered state prison will return as an ICE detention center.
    Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 26 Oct. 2025
  • Sanders has since been charged with intentionally abandoning a child younger than 15 without intent to return, a third-degree felony charge in Texas, according to court documents.
    Bailey Richards, PEOPLE, 26 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • When this reef was formed 245,000 to 195,000 years ago, the sea level was higher, so that today, the fossil reef sits well out of the water in the cliff face along the Piankatank River.
    JSTOR Daily, JSTOR Daily, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Certainly, the cynical have questioned if one organization is cleaning up a mess beget by another in the name of democratizing fashion, including through the proliferation of fossil-fuel materials.
    Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 31 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • And King Priam, at great personal risk, shows up with a ransom and falls on his knees and clasps Achilles’ hand.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Nov. 2025
  • As Semafor previously reported, many inside the magazine were excited by Guiducci’s arrival, believing the old Vanity Fair was moving too slowly, had fallen too far outside the zeitgeist, and had lost some of its sheen.
    Max Tani, semafor.com, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Shildt was an old-timer, relying more on feel and instinct than the cellar-dwelling nerds who run the sport with impossible numbers that don’t mean a damn thing.
    Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Oct. 2025
  • California’s vulnerable House Republicans are a diverse gaggle that includes new blood and old-timers, a Trump antagonist and a Trump lickspittle.
    Michelle Cottle, Mercury News, 24 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • In a social media video, Madi said her father's health declined in the months following an early-stage prostate cancer diagnosis.
    Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 7 Nov. 2025
  • The Administration submitted an emergency filing to the Supreme Court after an appeals court declined to block the injunction.
    Chad de Guzman, Time, 7 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • In other words, the vainly hopeful Larry is about to endure twin humiliations, leaving him feeling bumped out of his life and into the past—a has-been, instantly old.
    Richard Brody, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2025
  • DiCaprio makes a great, vital has-been, squinting at the horrors around him in disbelief, but mostly, driven by the need to protect his child.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Once Gacy is caught, the media runs with the details — all those bodies crammed in that crawlspace, some of them buried in trenches Gacy made his employees dig out — and paints his victims as runaways or degenerates who put themselves in danger.
    Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025
  • In the quiet of the Sabbath morning when all the neighborhood was wrapped in slumber, some dastardly degenerate crept into the room, choked her to death, assaulted her criminally and left her bruised and bleeding body lying on the bed.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Throwback.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/throwback. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.

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