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• old-world
  old-world

  adjective

  of or relating to the ancient world or to a former period of history.
• Old World
  Old World

  noun

  Europe, Asia, and Africa, especially when regarded collectively as the inhabited landmasses of the world known to Europe prior to its discovery of the Americas.

old-world

¹ American  

[ohld-wurld] / ˈoʊldˈwɜrld /

adjective

1. of or relating to the ancient world or to a former period of history.

2. of or relating to the Old World.

   old-world customs.

3. characteristic of the Old World; quaint; traditional.

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Old World ² American  

[ohld wurld] / ˈoʊld ˌwɜrld /

noun

1. Europe, Asia, and Africa, especially when regarded collectively as the inhabited landmasses of the world known to Europe prior to its discovery of the Americas.

2. Eastern Hemisphere.

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old-world ¹ British  

adjective

1. of or characteristic of former times, esp, in Europe, quaint or traditional

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Old World ² British  

noun

1. that part of the world that was known before the discovery of the Americas, comprising Europe, Asia, and Africa; the eastern hemisphere

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Old World Cultural  

1. The Eastern Hemisphere, especially Europe, as opposed to the New World — the Americas.

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Other Word Forms

• old-worldliness
  noun
• old-worldly
  adjective
• old-worldly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of old-world¹

First recorded in 1705–15

Origin of Old World²

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

old-world Old World

The Saint Paul Hotel — Overlooking Rice Park in downtown St. Paul, the Saint Paul Hotel delivers old-world elegance with the kind of attentive service that’s increasingly rare.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

Historic freezes in 1894 and 1895 nearly eradicated the industry, its first and last real brush with old-world calamity.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

As well as dressing up, they also try to replicate the posture, behaviours - such as using a fan - and "old-world way of speaking" of the Regency period.

From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026

Mr. Massie, whose slurred accent sounds at once Scottish, English and French, possesses the sort of old-world education presently facing extinction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

The problem was just that it took forever to translate old-world Farsi into English.

From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi

While U.S. power and light providers steal headlines with data center superprojects and the proposed megamerger between NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy, Old World cousins are outperforming.

From Barron's ● May 27, 2026

Old World hantaviruses, typically found in Europe and Asia, generally affect the kidneys.

From Salon ● May 9, 2026

In the Old World, collateral was often unrelated to the ability to pay off a loan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026

In Africa, Asia and Europe, they are referred to as Old World hantaviruses.

From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026

Mesoamerican writing is believed to have arisen independently of Old World writing, because there is no convincing evidence for pre-Norse contact of New World societies with Old World societies possessing writing.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

• antiquated
• archaic
• charming
• curious
• cute
• fanciful
• picturesque
• twee
• whimsical