quondam
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of quondam
Borrowed into English from Latin around 1530–50
Explanation
Use the adjective quondam if you need a fancy way to describe something as belonging to an earlier time. You might describe your quondam, or former, Latin tutor to your current Latin tutor, for example. English has many ways of saying "former," including quondam, which is the word of choice if you want to sound a bit literary. You may be able to impress a quondam teacher, date, or employer with it. The word quondam comes directly from Latin, with the meaning of "formerly," and it's been used in English since the 1530s.
Vocabulary lists containing quondam
Scrabble: Words that Begin with Q
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Dracula
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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.
You get the porthole windows of the quondam Seamen’s Union building and a tiny storefront that grandly introduces itself as the National School of Dancing.
From The New Yorker • Nov. 26, 2016
Hitchens was, not for the first time, drawing on the conceptual repertoire of his quondam Trotskyism to justify his stance.
From The Guardian • Jan. 18, 2013
"Paul and Bill are very chummy," says Painter Elaine de Kooning, 61, of the decade-long friendship between her husband, Artist Willem de Kooning, 77, and quondam Beatle Paul McCartney, 39.
From Time Magazine Archive
And every day people ask me right and left about the quondam 'most beautiful girl' in Trier, the 'Queen of the ball.'
From Time Magazine Archive
He put his laser beam away, bent, and, with curiosity, examined the body of his quondam superior.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
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.
