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 very old, old-fashioned, or out of date; antiquated; primitive.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

Example Sentences

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

She rode past a parking lot containing an assortment of antediluvian cars and trucks, some so old they still had steering wheels, real ones, not the cosmetic kind.

From Slate • May 29, 2021

“Oh! if Ja-bol-he-moth,” he suddenly exclaimed with a fierce earnestness, “if Ja-bol-he-moth and other great antediluvian giants could only escape from their imprisonment, we would soon transform the whole earth to our liking.”

From In Both Worlds by Holcombe, William Henry