outdated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Origin of outdated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Anything that's so old-fashioned that it's unstylish or not useful is outdated. You might love the way an antique car looks, but its outdated safety standards (no seat belts or airbags) make it dangerous to drive on the highway. The 70s bell-bottom jeans your aunt still wears might be embarrassingly outdated, but at least they function as pants. Your outdated computer, on the other hand, isn't even capable of getting online or connecting to your printer — in other words, it's obsolete, or completely useless.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Vocabulary lists containing outdated
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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.
"We understand the current retail trading environment, rising costs, a significant and outdated retail footprint, and supply chain challenges have led to this point," said Christopher Hill from receivers FTI Consulting.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
In a statement cited by French media outlets in October, the company said most refrigeration systems affected by the initial wave of attacks were either obsolete or running outdated software.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
Residents say they still experience outages during heavy storms, as Laos's own electricity infrastructure is outdated and the state utility is heavily in debt.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
Far from fitting the outdated stereotype of Neanderthals as simple, brutal creatures, Shanidar A provides rare physical evidence of a society capable of both deadly violence and sustained compassion.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 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In the postwar years, when an influx of demobilized students threatened to burst the seams of Berkeley’s outdated scientific facilities, California’s legislature and the university’s private patrons responded with unprecedented generosity.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
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
