museum piece

noun

1. something suitable for keeping and exhibiting in a museum.

2. something very old-fashioned or decrepit.

   That car he drives is a museum piece.

museum piece

noun

1. an object of sufficient age or interest to be kept in a museum

2. informal,  a person or thing regarded as antiquated or decrepit

Word History and Origins

Origin of museum piece¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Idioms and Phrases

An elderly or old-fashioned item or person, as in When are you going to sell that museum piece of a car? or Aunt Jane comes from another era—she's a real museum piece. This expression originated about 1900 for an article valuable enough for museum display but began to be used disparagingly from about 1915.