anachronism
Americannoun
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something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time.
The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.
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an error in chronology in which a person, object, event, etc., is assigned a date or period other than the correct one.
To assign Michelangelo to the 14th century is an anachronism.
noun
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the representation of an event, person, or thing in a historical context in which it could not have occurred or existed
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a person or thing that belongs or seems to belong to another time
she regards the Church as an anachronism
Other Word Forms
- anachronically adverb
- anachronistic adjective
- anachronistically adverb
Etymology
Origin of anachronism
1640–50; < Latin anachronismus < Greek anachronismós a wrong time reference, equivalent to anachron ( ízein ) to make a wrong time reference ( ana-, chron-, -ize ) + -ismos -ism
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.
The Dow—a group of 30 companies often seen as an anachronism in an era of index investing and big data—doesn’t capture the full force of the current boom.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026
Their opposition to transportation projects and other infrastructure, though supposedly grounded in Jeffersonian principle, was a roundabout way of retarding industrial development and ensuring that slavery did not become an economic anachronism.
From Salon • Jul. 26, 2025
Some people do not get the Lions and call it an anachronism and an unimportant exhibition.
From BBC • May 7, 2025
In an increasingly digital United States, they’re more and more a remnant of a time gone by, an anachronism of a now-unfathomable era when leaving your house meant being unavailable to callers.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 23, 2024
“It’s not unthinkable that someone like you could play. You’re no anachronism, buddy.”
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
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.
