heretofore
Americanadverb
adverb
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of heretofore
1300–50; Middle English heretoforn, equivalent to here here + toforn, Old English tōforan ( tō to + foran before; see fore 1)
Explanation
When someone says heretofore, they're describing things that have happened up to the present moment. This formal word means "thus far" and often appears in legal or other official documents. This is an old-fashioned word, but it refers to something timeless — events in the past that have gone on until now. To sell a new shoe, an advertiser could say, "Heretofore, there has never been a shoe like this." After a disaster, someone could say, "Heretofore, we never experienced such a catastrophe." This word draws a line in the sand between the past and the present. This word means about the same as as yet and until now.
Vocabulary lists containing heretofore
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards
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Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
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Votes for Women!
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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.
“Voters continue to believe that federal spending consists of vastly more waste, fraud and abuse than researchers and auditors have heretofore been able to identify,” reports the Reagan Institute in its latest national economic survey.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
"Beijing has heretofore tolerated this practice, but the Manus case marks a major turning point" as the US-China AI race heats up, she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Apr. 28, 2026
On the subject of AI replacing heretofore normal human activities, Mr. Amodei, born in 1983, writes with the wide-eyed wonder of a high-school-aged techno-utopian.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
Its music videos, which had heretofore been so art-school obscure that MTV barely played them, were now high-budget fantasias with Stipe front and center, undulating like a Robert Longo painting come to life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2024
Jo spoke hopefully, but could not rid herself of the foreboding fear that this ‘little trial’ would be harder than the others, and that Laurie would not get over his ‘lovelornity’ as easily as heretofore.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
