formerly

adverb

for·​mer·​ly ˈfȯr-mər-lē 

ˈfȯr-mə-

1

: at an earlier time : previously

Istanbul was formerly known as Constantinople.

2

obsolete : just before

Synonyms of formerly

• once

Examples of formerly in a Sentence

He was formerly a congressman.

the newspaper formerly known as “The Newsprint”

Recent Examples on the Web

In particular, Jost was given a joke about Ye, formerly Kanye West, who has been widely condemned for his history of antisemitism. —Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 17 May 2026

The conversion is being handled by SDFX Studios (formerly Stereo D), the same company del Toro worked with on Pacific Rim. —Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 17 May 2026

The Division Street site formerly housed a location of the breakfast restaurant chain Yolk. —Adam Harrington, CBS News, 17 May 2026

He has been accused of being behind a shift to the right of the Canal+ Group’s 24-hour news channel CNews (formerly known as i-Télé) and the talk shows of channel C8, in the wake of his taking control of parent company Vivendi in 2014. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 17 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

formerly

adverb

for·​mer·​ly ˈfȯr-mər-lē 

: at an earlier time : previously