yesteryear

American  

[yes-ter-yeer, -yeer] / ˈyɛs tərˈyɪər, -ˌyɪər /

noun

1. last year.

2. the recent years; time not long past.

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adverb

1. during time not long past.

yesteryear British  

/ ˈjɛstəˌjɪə /

noun

1. last year or the past in general

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adverb

1. during last year or the past in general

Etymology

Origin of yesteryear

yester- + year; apparently introduced by D.G. Rossetti (1870) to render Middle French antan (Villon)

Explanation

Yesteryear is an extremely poetic way to refer to the past. You might nostalgically talk about the town where you used to live as your home of yesteryear. The word yesteryear was actually invented by a poet, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, in 1870. Rossetti was searching for an accurate way to translate a phrase by the French poet Francois Villon — the line he came up with was "But where are the snows of yesteryear?" Other translators have substituted yore for yesteryear, but the latter is a word that perfectly captures a kind of nostalgia for a lost past.

Example Sentences

With few words, Kuznetsov projects such decency and conviction that he recalls any number of virtuous fictional lawyers of yesteryear who stood up to evil.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

If Nvidia can emulate that shareholders will be rewarded, even though it’s not quite the explosive gains of yesteryear.

From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026

Many of the hedge funds that suffered losses last week are so-called multimanager funds—a type of investor that is different from the swing-for-the-fence firms of yesteryear.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

It flew past Viljami Sinisalo at a speed that reminded you of what the late, great Gordon McQueen said of his iconic goal against England from yesteryear.

From BBC • Mar. 1, 2026

Henry Lee, for example, apprised Madison that the assumption debate reminded him of those glorious days of yesteryear, when the Virginia Assembly refused to recognize Parliament’s right to tax colonies.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis