throwback

[ throh-bak ]

noun

1. Biology.
   1. the reversion to an ancestral or earlier type or character; atavism.
   2. an individual having the characteristics of a remote ancestor or primitive type; an example of atavism.
2. a person or thing that evokes memories or imitates something from the past (often used attributively): On their anniversary, she took to social media with a throwback photo from their wedding reception.

   These chandeliers are designed as a throwback to those old-style candlelit lanterns.

   On their anniversary, she took to social media with a throwback photo from their wedding reception.

3. an act of throwing back:

   A sudden ban on fish throwbacks could harm ecosystems, since a range of predator species are reliant on discarded fish as a food source.

4. a setback or check.

throwback

/ ˈθrəʊˌbæk /

noun

1. 1. a person, animal, or plant that has the characteristics of an earlier or more primitive type
   2. a reversion to such an organism

verb

1. intr to revert to an earlier or more primitive type
2. trfoll byon to force to depend (on)

   the crisis threw her back on her faith in God

Word History and Origins

Origin of throwback¹

First recorded in 1855–60; 1915–20 throwback fordef 1; noun use of verb phrase throw back

Example Sentences

This browser is something of a throwback in terms of its appearance.

From Popular-Science

On the back, there's a throwback capacitive fingerprint reader—a contrast to the in-screen fingerprint readers most phones ship with—and a camera block.

From Ars Technica

Each of the eight episodes will focus on a specific paranormal incident, a throwback to a classic monster-of-the-week format.

From Ars Technica

This industrial lamp brings a throwback appeal to your bedroom—dimmable Edison bulb included.

From Popular-Science

Campus appears to be a throwback to the first days of Facebook, when a person had to have a college email address and attend a select group of universities to be able to join.

From MIT Technology Review

But Willie Watson is a throwback to the days of Woody Guthrie and early Bob Dylan.

From The Daily Beast

That, I thought, was racism, and a throwback for America, to simply vote for a man because of the color of his skin.

From The Daily Beast

Politically, Cianci is something of a throwback to a time when conservative, ethnic politics dominated urban centers.

From The Daily Beast

What does Soylent have going for it other than missionary zeal and a revoltingly kitschy sci-fi throwback name?

From The Daily Beast

For many of the young she is seen as a throwback to a past few want to see repeated.

From The Daily Beast

You're sort of a throwback to the days when they needed barnstormers to correct bad working-conditions, aren't you?

From Project Gutenberg

The third dog of the team was Slasher, a gaunt, untamed malamute, red-eyed and vicious—a throwback to the wolf.

From Project Gutenberg

In face, figure, expression, and manner he was a five-hundred-year throwback to his Holland ancestors.

From Project Gutenberg

An atavistic throwback to primitive barbarism is more difficult for us who have twenty centuries behind us more than they have.

From Project Gutenberg

He was lighter—perhaps a throwback to some distant age when all sturgeon were white—and thus he was the easiest to see.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• estate
• gift
• tradition