of or relating to the ancient world or to a former period of history.
of or relating to the Old World.
old-world customs.
characteristic of the Old World; quaint; traditional.
Europe, Asia, and Africa, especially when regarded collectively as the inhabited landmasses of the world known to Europe prior to its discovery of the Americas.
First recorded in 1705–15
First recorded in 1590–1600
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Saint Paul Hotel — Overlooking Rice Park in downtown St. Paul, the Saint Paul Hotel delivers old-world elegance with the kind of attentive service that’s increasingly rare.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
The reborn Maybach struggled for sales against the old-world incumbents, Rolls-Royce and Bentley.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
Historic freezes in 1894 and 1895 nearly eradicated the industry, its first and last real brush with old-world calamity.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
As well as dressing up, they also try to replicate the posture, behaviours - such as using a fan - and "old-world way of speaking" of the Regency period.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
Comparing the clippers to those old-world wrecks was like squinting into daylight after coming out of a rust hold.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
While U.S. power and light providers steal headlines with data center superprojects and the proposed megamerger between NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy, Old World cousins are outperforming.
From Barron's ● May 27, 2026
The vast majority of cases occur in China, with thousands of cases caused by Old World hantavirus strains occurring annually.
From Salon ● May 9, 2026
In Africa, Asia and Europe, they are referred to as Old World hantaviruses.
From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026
Donatello, the embodiment of an Old World defined more by superstition than piety and by tradition than goodness, lacks the character to withstand Miriam’s inner darkness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
From east to west in the Old World, the Macedonian Empire and the Roman Empire both spanned 3,000 miles, the Mongol Empire 6,000 miles.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
