Erstwhile
adjective
Former or past.
My erstwhile friend and I haven't talked in years.
Often appears as...
- erstwhile friend
- erstwhile colleague
Usage tips
Formal
adverb
Previously.
He was erstwhile known as an expert in his field.
Often appears as...
- erstwhile known
- erstwhile said
Usage tips
Formal
adjective
Former or past.
My erstwhile friend and I haven't talked in years.
Often appears as...
- erstwhile friend
- erstwhile colleague
Usage tips
Formal
adverb
Previously.
He was erstwhile known as an expert in his field.
Often appears as...
- erstwhile known
- erstwhile said
Usage tips
Formal
Definition 1 of 2
Pro Tip 1/3Time Shift
Indicates a shift in time to express that someone or something was, but is no longer, in a specific role or state.
His erstwhile mentor retired last spring.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Distance
Implies a psychological or emotional separation from something or someone in the past.
She returned to her erstwhile home, feeling like a stranger.
Pro Tip 3/3Narrative Change
Useful in storytelling to introduce a change in a character's life or situation.
The erstwhile villain redeemed himself in the story's climax.
Pro Tip 1/3Time Shift
Indicates a shift in time to express that someone or something was, but is no longer, in a specific role or state.
His erstwhile mentor retired last spring.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Distance
Implies a psychological or emotional separation from something or someone in the past.
She returned to her erstwhile home, feeling like a stranger.
Pro Tip 3/3Narrative Change
Useful in storytelling to introduce a change in a character's life or situation.
The erstwhile villain redeemed himself in the story's climax.
Pro Tip 1/3Time Shift
Indicates a shift in time to express that someone or something was, but is no longer, in a specific role or state.
His erstwhile mentor retired last spring.
Pro Tip 2/3Emotional Distance
Implies a psychological or emotional separation from something or someone in the past.
She returned to her erstwhile home, feeling like a stranger.
Pro Tip 3/3Narrative Change
Useful in storytelling to introduce a change in a character's life or situation.
The erstwhile villain redeemed himself in the story's climax.
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Video examples
Adam Grosser: A mobile...
One has a working fluid, water and ammonia, and the other is a condenser. You heat up one side, the hot side. The ammonia evaporates and it recondenses in the other side. You let it cool to room temperature, and then, as the ammonia reevaporates and combines with the water back on the erstwhile hot side, it creates a powerful cooling effect.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 222 PIPE...
just as the birmingham boys erstwhile owners of these lands headed down south to fill of a can see on the Sand River which was brought about by the demise of the merging gallon coalition and said that birmingham's moved south and these young
Video examples
Adam Grosser: A mobile...
One has a working fluid, water and ammonia, and the other is a condenser. You heat up one side, the hot side. The ammonia evaporates and it recondenses in the other side. You let it cool to room temperature, and then, as the ammonia reevaporates and combines with the water back on the erstwhile hot side, it creates a powerful cooling effect.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 222 PIPE...
just as the birmingham boys erstwhile owners of these lands headed down south to fill of a can see on the Sand River which was brought about by the demise of the merging gallon coalition and said that birmingham's moved south and these young
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
David Hepworth
British Journalist
Adrift With Geoff Lloyd and Annabel Port' features Absolute Radio escapee Geoff and erstwhile colleague Annabel doing something similar. All are appealing individuals with plenty to say, tentatively getting used to their new freedom to talk about anything.
Quote examples
N. Chandrababu Naidu
Indian Politician
Given my earlier experience as the longest served CM of the erstwhile undivided A.P., I focused on choosing right people in the right place with clear priorities in the departments that were vital to attract large-scale investments into the state.
Quote examples
Charles C. Mann
American Journalist
By the 1980s, businesses had realized that environmental issues had a price tag. Increasingly, they balked. Reflexively, the anticorporate Left pivoted; Earth Day, erstwhile snow job, became an opportunity to denounce capitalist greed.
Quote examples
Amarinder Singh
Indian Politician
Revival of investor confidence and industrial development is, in my opinion, one of the biggest achievements of my government, given the financial mess which we have inherited from the erstwhile Akali government.
Quote examples
Stephen Rodrick
American Journalist
All backups take their cue from Elrod Hendricks, the patron saint of erstwhile catchers.
Quote examples
David Hepworth
British Journalist
Adrift With Geoff Lloyd and Annabel Port' features Absolute Radio escapee Geoff and erstwhile colleague Annabel doing something similar. All are appealing individuals with plenty to say, tentatively getting used to their new freedom to talk about anything.
Quote examples
N. Chandrababu Naidu
Indian Politician
Given my earlier experience as the longest served CM of the erstwhile undivided A.P., I focused on choosing right people in the right place with clear priorities in the departments that were vital to attract large-scale investments into the state.
Quote examples
Charles C. Mann
American Journalist
By the 1980s, businesses had realized that environmental issues had a price tag. Increasingly, they balked. Reflexively, the anticorporate Left pivoted; Earth Day, erstwhile snow job, became an opportunity to denounce capitalist greed.
Quote examples
Amarinder Singh
Indian Politician
Revival of investor confidence and industrial development is, in my opinion, one of the biggest achievements of my government, given the financial mess which we have inherited from the erstwhile Akali government.
Quote examples
Stephen Rodrick
American Journalist
All backups take their cue from Elrod Hendricks, the patron saint of erstwhile catchers.
Example 1 of 5
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