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

Jackman and his Song Sung Blue costar Kate Hudson are among the honorees at the 35th annual awards ceremony held by The Gotham (formerly the Gotham Film & Media Institute) at New York City's Cipriani Wall Street. —Jack Smart, PEOPLE, 2 Dec. 2025

The venue in The Outpost shopping center and office park was formerly home to the Kudos Children’s Theater Company, which folded late last year. —Kathleen Quinn, Sacbee.com, 1 Dec. 2025

King will head up music PR efforts, having worked for years as an entertainment journalist, formerly as the features editor at Metro New York and Metro Boston. —Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 1 Dec. 2025

Sudden resignation raises questions Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon confirmed Stembridge's departure in a statement on X (formerly Twitter). —Zachary Bynum, CBS News, 1 Dec. 2025

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