Word Origin
See more synonyms for museum piece on Thesaurus.com something suitable for keeping and exhibiting in a museum. something very old-fashioned or decrepit: That car he drives is a museum piece. Show More
Origin of museum piece First recorded in 1900–05
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for museum piece an object of sufficient age or interest to be kept in a museum informal a person or thing regarded as antiquated or decrepit Show More
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
Idioms and Phrases with museum piece 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.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
