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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 belonging to, characteristic of, or favoured by former times; outdated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 Out-of-date clothes, like your aunt's wardrobe of 1980's dresses with shoulder pads, are old-fashioned.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

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

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

Aunt Mary is real old fashioned, you know, and she sat in the kitchen darning and Tommy was playing around the floor.

From The Girls of Central High on the Stage The Play That Took The Prize by Gertrude W. Morrison

No one understands their audience better than she does, knowing comedy relies as much on observation as on good, old-fashioned slapstick.

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026

In this case, a trusted family member or friend can be enormously helpful for receiving the occasional piece of mail, replacement credit card or other documents that still must be sent the old-fashioned way.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

In other words, what the Brewers lack in thump, they make up for by thriving at fundamentals: baserunning, hustle and good old-fashioned situational hitting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Standing before a 20-foot wall of bright blue buckets, he tells one, facing the wrong way, that they don’t carry buckets, that they’re old-fashioned and no one uses them anymore.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

He was the opposite of an old-fashioned banker, however.

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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