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 belonging to, characteristic of, or favoured by former times; outdated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

Related Words

See ancient ¹.

Other Word Forms

• old-fashionedly
  adverb
• old-fashionedness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of old fashioned¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Origin of old-fashioned²

First recorded in 1645–55

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 Out-of-date clothes, like your aunt's wardrobe of 1980's dresses with shoulder pads, are old-fashioned.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

Old-fashioned toilets usually succeeded at those things, but there was no science or technique to how much water they used.

From Slate • Feb. 25, 2025

Old-fashioned in many ways yet modern in others - with a GPS guiding system - it lacks one key resource: rockets.

From BBC • May 6, 2024

Old-fashioned officials routinely block Alharasis and his colleagues from entering schools.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 19, 2023

Old-fashioned finger signals and sign stealing may soon become obsolete in Major League Baseball.

From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2022

Old-fashioned biplanes hung on strings from the ceiling, tilted at crazy angles like they were in the middle of a dogfight.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

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• outdated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