antediluvian

[an-tee-di-loo-vee-uhn]

adjective

1. of or belonging to the period before the Biblical Flood.

2. very old, old-fashioned, or out of date; antiquated; primitive.

   antediluvian ideas.

noun

1. a person who lived before the Biblical Flood.

2. a very old or old-fashioned person or thing.

antediluvian

/ ˌæntɪdɪˈluːvɪən, -daɪ- /

adjective

1. belonging to the ages before the biblical Flood (Genesis 7, 8)

2. old-fashioned or antiquated

noun

1. an antediluvian person or thing

Word History and Origins

Origin of antediluvian¹

First recorded in 1640–50; ante- + Latin dīluvi(um) “a flood, deluge” + -an; deluge

Word History and Origins

Origin of antediluvian¹

C17: from _ante- + Latin dīluvium flood

Example Sentences

It’s too much to expect these people to care about the lives that won’t be saved because of their antediluvian attitudes toward modern science.

From Salon

As my colleague Amanda Marcotte points out, Johnson is an antediluvian, patriarchal, misogynist with all that that implies and he has devoted his life to re-making America into an explicitly Christian fundamentalist state.

From Salon

The rituals were only the start of 10 days of ceremony that will strike some as charming and others as hopelessly antediluvian.

From New York Times

Of all the units that measure all the things, Scoville heat units have got to be the most antediluvian.

From Washington Post

But the script forces antediluvian clichés on some of the grown-up female characters.

From New York Times