formerly

[ fawr-mer-lee ]

/ ˈfɔr mər li /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR formerly ON THESAURUS.COM

adverb

in time past; in an earlier period or age; previously: a custom formerly observed.

Obsolete. in time just past; just now.

Nearby words

formboard, formby, forme, forme fruste, former, formerly, formfitting, formful, formic, formic acid, formica

Origin of formerly

First recorded in 1580–90; former¹ + -ly

Can be confused

formally formerly

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for formerly

Retired Det. Tom Nerney, formerly of the NYPD Major Case Squad, investigated Shakur.
Cuba Protects America’s Most Wanted|Michael Daly|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Missy Suicide, formerly known as Selena Mooney, is in New York for a series of brand-expansion meetings.
Masters of Alt Sex: SuicideGirls Hits Puberty and Wants to Invade Your TV Set|Marlow Stern|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Gaidar, formerly the vice governor of the Kirov Region, now educates people about how to deal with authorities.
Putin’s Health Care Disaster|Anna Nemtsova|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Donetsk, formerly a make-believe republic, is turning into a little neo-Soviet state.
East Ukraine: Back in the USSR|Jamie Dettmer|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Presumably, while our formerly sad animated heroine picks daisies in her garden (and it is almost always hers, not his).
Mother’s Little Anti-Psychotic Is Worth $6.9 Billion A Year|Jay Michaelson|November 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Before the war there was an average annual export of about 2,000 animals; but there is now a better local market than formerly.
Notes on Agriculture in Cyprus and Its Products|William Bevan
One great bug bear of the prairies was formerly the scarcity of timber.
The History of Peru|Henry S. Beebe
Slate quarries and copper and tin mines were formerly valuable.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7|Various
It was remarkable, too, how he kept up his interest in subjects at which he had formerly worked.
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I (of II)|Charles Darwin
His ambition and his simple personal successes had formerly distracted him from the sentiments which madame de Rnal had inspired.
The Red and the Black|Stendhal

British Dictionary definitions for formerly

formerly

/ (ˈfɔːməlɪ) /

adverb

at or in a former time; in the past

obsolete in the immediate past; just now

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012