antediluvian
Americanadjective
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of or belonging to the period before the Biblical Flood.
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very old, old-fashioned, or out of date; antiquated; primitive.
antediluvian ideas.
noun
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a person who lived before the Biblical Flood.
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a very old or old-fashioned person or thing.
adjective
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belonging to the ages before the biblical Flood (Genesis 7, 8)
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old-fashioned or antiquated
noun
Etymology
Origin of antediluvian
First recorded in 1640–50; ante- + Latin dīluvi(um) “a flood, deluge” + -an; see origin at deluge
Explanation
Antediluvian means "before the flood" — that is, the Biblical flood with Noah's ark. Generally, though, the word is used — often humorously — to describe something really, really old. In popular language, antediluvian is almost always used to exaggerate how comically, ridiculously old and out-of-date something is. You may laugh at your parents' antediluvian ideas of what's proper for going out on a date. And how about those antediluvian computers they still insist are fine! When the word was coined in the seventeenth century, however, it was meant literally. Back then, the science of reconstructing the Earth's history used the Bible as a frame of reference.
Vocabulary lists containing antediluvian
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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.
He was then in charge of transportation, and his office overlooked the antediluvian Rue de Rivoli.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2023
Of all the units that measure all the things, Scoville heat units have got to be the most antediluvian.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2022
But the script forces antediluvian clichés on some of the grown-up female characters.
From New York Times ● Jul. 17, 2022
Microsoft released the first version of Internet Explorer in 1995, the antediluvian era of web surfing dominated by the first widely popular browser, Netscape Navigator.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 14, 2022
“Oh! if Ja-bol-he-moth,” he suddenly exclaimed with a fierce earnestness, “if Ja-bol-he-moth and other great antediluvian giants could only escape from their imprisonment, we would soon transform the whole earth to our liking.”
From In Both Worlds by William Henry Holcombe
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.
