outdated
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of outdated
Explanation
Anything that's so old-fashioned that it's unstylish or not useful is outdated. You might love the way an antique car looks, but its outdated safety standards (no seat belts or airbags) make it dangerous to drive on the highway. The 70s bell-bottom jeans your aunt still wears might be embarrassingly outdated, but at least they function as pants. Your outdated computer, on the other hand, isn't even capable of getting online or connecting to your printer — in other words, it's obsolete, or completely useless. This adjective dates from the early 1600s, from the "mark as old fashioned" meaning of the verb date.
Vocabulary lists containing outdated
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Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 5)
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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.
The government has insisted it needs to reform the "outdated" council funding system to move money to where it is most needed.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
Older data centers did rely heavily on evaporative cooling, much like an outdated car relied on a carburetor.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026
Rita thought it was ugly and outdated, so she’d covered it with greenery.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
At Friday's session, US deputy ambassador Jeffrey Bartos said the existing embargo was "outdated" and "insufficient to address the realities of the war today".
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
In the postwar years, when an influx of demobilized students threatened to burst the seams of Berkeley’s outdated scientific facilities, California’s legislature and the university’s private patrons responded with unprecedented generosity.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
