antediluvian

American  

[an-tee-di-loo-vee-uhn] / ˌæn ti dɪˈlu vi ən /

adjective

1. of or belonging to the period before the Biblical Flood.

2. very old, old-fashioned, or out of date; antiquated; primitive.

   antediluvian ideas.

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noun

1. a person who lived before the Biblical Flood.

2. a very old or old-fashioned person or thing.

antediluvian British  

/ ˌæntɪdɪˈluːvɪən, -daɪ- /

adjective

1. belonging to the ages before the biblical Flood (Genesis 7, 8)

2. old-fashioned or antiquated

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noun

1. an antediluvian person or thing

Etymology

Origin of antediluvian

First recorded in 1640–50; ante- + Latin dīluvi(um) “a flood, deluge” + -an; see origin at deluge

Explanation

Antediluvian means "before the flood" — that is, the Biblical flood with Noah's ark. Generally, though, the word is used — often humorously — to describe something really, really old. In popular language, antediluvian is almost always used to exaggerate how comically, ridiculously old and out-of-date something is. You may laugh at your parents' antediluvian ideas of what's proper for going out on a date. And how about those antediluvian computers they still insist are fine! When the word was coined in the seventeenth century, however, it was meant literally. Back then, the science of reconstructing the Earth's history used the Bible as a frame of reference.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

antediluvian

Microsoft released the first version of Internet Explorer in 1995, the antediluvian era of web surfing dominated by the first widely popular browser, Netscape Navigator.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2022

So, $23.7 billion annually to renovate an antediluvian water system?

From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2021

There is a strange sense of almost antediluvian time operating in this atmospheric collection, and intriguing hints at lives influenced more by myth than by history.

From New York Times ● Oct. 1, 2021

Michael Pollan describes this as a kind of antediluvian experience, a return to paradise before science and technology pushed us “toward the objectification of nature and of all species other than our own.”

From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2021

Cockie was not a pretty bird; his bill was worn and all twisted awry, and his eyes looked terribly old-fashioned, and the blue, wrinkled skin around them gave him quite an antediluvian look.

From Wild Adventures round the Pole The Cruise of the "Snowbird" Crew in the "Arrandoon" by Stables, Gordon