museum piece

American  

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.

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museum piece British  

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

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museum piece Idioms  

1. 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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Etymology

Origin of museum piece

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

“Anderson’s sources — and Anderson — argued that it was really a museum piece, a relic,” Bennett said.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 3, 2024

“He is not merely a museum piece, but a man,” one archaeologist told The Age in 1956.

From National Geographic • Feb. 6, 2024

But Ms Blessley says "it's not a museum piece" and has faced some hard knocks.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2023

This isn’t Mozart as a museum piece, porcelain to be handled with delicacy.

From New York Times • Sep. 29, 2022

Gluck was armed with an incredibly heavy musket, a singleshot museum piece with an octagonal barrel and a smooth bore.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut