formerly
Americanadverb
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in time past; in an earlier period or age; previously.
a custom formerly observed.
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Obsolete. in time just past; just now.
adverb
-
at or in a former time; in the past
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obsolete in the immediate past; just now
Etymology
Origin of formerly
Compare meaning
How does formerly compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Use the adverb formerly to describe something that happened earlier. A history teacher might explain that the city of Istanbul was formerly known as Constantinople. Something that existed previously, or that has changed in some way over time, can be talked about using the word formerly. Your graceful math teacher might have formerly been a professional dancer, and the building where you take fencing lessons could have formerly been a textile mill. If something happened once upon a time, it happened formerly. The origin of the word traces all the way back to the Proto-Germanic formo, or "first."
Vocabulary lists containing formerly
Commonly Confused Words, List 1
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Commonly Confused Words, List 3
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Commonly Confused Words, List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A community garden has replaced a drug market, a library stands where an unofficial dumping ground once accumulated milk crates, and formerly deserted blocks now have families moving in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
"In the naïve quark model, there are three quarks inside a proton, but nothing else," said Tommy Tsang, formerly a postdoc at Kent State University, now at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Some of the fighters subsequently settled in the area with their families, with some reportedly still living in the formerly ethnically mixed region, known as Sari Kani in Kurdish.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
Ayub was formerly in the armed forces and lost his son.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Extensive, formerly forested areas of the highlands were converted by traditional New Guinea farmers to fenced, drained, intensively managed field systems supporting dense human populations.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
