ahistorical

American  

[ey-hi-stawr-i-kuhl, -stor-i-kuhl] / ˌeɪ hɪˈstɔr ɪ kəl, -ˈstɒr ɪ kəl /

Also ahistoric

adjective

1. without concern for history or historical development; indifferent to tradition.

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ahistorical British  

/ ˌeɪhɪsˈtɒrɪkəl /

adjective

1. not related to history; not historical

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Etymology

Origin of ahistorical

First recorded in 1925–30; a- ⁶ + historical

Explanation

Something that's ahistorical completely ignores or disregards the history or tradition that came before it. An ahistorical review of a movie would leave out any references to influential films and directors. An ahistorical political outlook can be misguided or even dangerous, because it doesn't take the lessons of the past into account. People who are nostalgic about the past are often taking an ahistorical perspective, choosing not to think about advances in civil and human rights through history. The word ahistorical dates from 1950, combining a, "not," and historical, "concerning past events."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ahistorical

But his film was distinguished as well by being almost entirely apolitical and virtually ahistorical.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Asserting that hetero-optimism is necessary for heterosexuality to thrive is both defensive and ahistorical.

From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026

The broader biographical facts are obeyed, but “Amadeus” is fundamentally ahistorical, and sometimes implausible: It is to be trusted only as television.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026

The problem with this argument, as Fletcher said, is that it’s ahistorical.

From Slate ● Feb. 28, 2024

The boxlike room, stripped of all embellishment or parlor fussiness, a room that wished to be timeless or ahistorical, and there, in the middle of it, my deeply historical, timeworn grandmother.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides