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• old fashioned
  old fashioned

  noun

  a cocktail made with whiskey, bitters, water, and sugar, and garnished with citrus-fruit slices and a cherry.
• old-fashioned
  old-fashioned

  adjective

  of a style or kind that is no longer in vogue.

old fashioned

¹ American  

noun

1. (sometimes initial capital letters) a cocktail made with whiskey, bitters, water, and sugar, and garnished with citrus-fruit slices and a cherry.

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old-fashioned ² American  

[ohld-fash-uhnd] / ˈoʊldˈfæʃ ənd /

adjective

1. of a style or kind that is no longer in vogue.

   an old-fashioned bathing suit.

   Synonyms:

   obsolete, outmoded

2. favored or prevalent in former times.

   old-fashioned ideas.

3. having the conservative behavior, ways, ideas, or tastes of earlier times.

   a delightfully old-fashioned gentleman.

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old-fashioned British  

adjective

1. belonging to, characteristic of, or favoured by former times; outdated

   old-fashioned ideas

2. favouring or adopting the dress, manners, fashions, etc, of a former time

3. quizzically doubtful or disapproving

   she did not reply, but gave him an old-fashioned look

4. dialect old for one's age

   an old-fashioned child

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noun

1. a cocktail containing spirit, bitters, fruit, etc

Synonym Usage

See ancient ¹.

Other Word Forms

• old-fashionedness
  noun
• old-fashionedly
  adverb

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Etymology

Origin of old fashioned¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Origin of old-fashioned²

First recorded in 1645–55

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Explanation

Something that's old-fashioned is out of style or from the past. You could call an antique telephone old-fashioned, and you could also describe your elderly grandfather this way. Out-of-date clothes, like your aunt's wardrobe of 1980's dresses with shoulder pads, are old-fashioned. Soda fountains, carriages pulled by horses, and typewriters are all old-fashioned as well. These things are either not currently popular, or they're just plain old. There is also a whisky-based mixed drink called an old-fashioned which is still served in many stylish bars and restaurants.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

old fashioned old-fashioned

But I’m old fashioned, and young comics are going to probably make fun of me, but I think the cream tends to rise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

Meanwhile, old fashioned conglomerate Berkshire-Hathaway is changing hands with Warren Buffett stepping down at the age of 95.

From Slate ● Jan. 3, 2026

However, McElligott reckons that this narrative of more skeptical AI thinking has been used to explain what in essence is simply old fashioned profit-taking after a strong run.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 19, 2025

With installations focused on the fabled, traffic-free, open road “freedom” that car manufacturers like to so often tout, there’s something quaintly old fashioned here.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2025

They are written in an urbane and agreeable manner, but are wholly lacking in originality, insight, and vigour; while their bits of learning strike the more modern reader as old fashioned, even if not pedantic.

From William Hickling Prescott by Harry Thurston Peck

Those odds tend to react to old-fashioned polling, which are a snapshot of potential voters—some random, others less so.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

Scheffler encouraged artists to continue "drawing by hand and being old-fashioned"

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Saint James’ Kate was the modern and no-nonsense counterpart to Curtin’s old-fashioned, sweet Allie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

First, it’s an old-fashioned love story with a fantastical twist: Lively’s character dies in a car crash but is revived when she’s struck by lightning, only to stop aging forever.

From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026

Oppenheimer was among the last of the old-fashioned Wall Street partnerships and survived on the scraps left behind by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

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Related Words

• ancient
• antique
• archaic
• corny
• dated
• odd
• old
• old-time
• outdated
• outmoded
• primitive

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