Standard Lemma guide

anachronistic

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /əˌnæk.ɹəˈnɪs.tɪk/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: AH0 N AE2 K R AH0 N IH1 S T IH0 K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Erroneous in date; containing an anachronism; in a wrong time; not applicable to or not appropriate for the time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • If you know where to look in the movie, you can spot an anachronistic wrist watch on one of the Roman soldiers.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

chronologically misplaced

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • English public schools are anachronistic

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: anachronic, anachronous

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2en- Proto-Hellenic *aná Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ́ (ănắ) Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ- (ănă-) Ancient Greek χρόνος (khrónos) Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō) Ancient Greek χρονῐ́ζω (khronĭ́zō) Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰχρονῐ́ζομαι (ănăkhronĭ́zomai) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰχρονῐσμός (ănăkhronĭsmós)der. New Latin anachronismusder. English anachronism Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English anachronistic From anachronism + -ic.

Across languages

Translations

48 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: ժամանակավրեպ (žamanakavrep) — erroneous in date
  • Armenian: անախրոնիկ (anaxronik) — erroneous in date
  • Belarusian: анахранічны (anaxraničny) — erroneous in date
  • Catalan: anacrònic — erroneous in date
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不合時代 /不合时代 (bùhéshídài) — erroneous in date
  • Chinese Mandarin: 不合時宜 /不合时宜 (bùhéshíyí) — erroneous in date
  • Dutch: anachronistisch — erroneous in date
  • Esperanto: anakronisma — erroneous in date
  • Finnish: epäajanmukainen — erroneous in date
  • Finnish: anakronistinen — erroneous in date
  • Finnish: aikaan sopimaton — erroneous in date
  • French: anachronique — erroneous in date
  • Galician: anacrónico — erroneous in date
  • German: anachronistisch — erroneous in date
  • German: fehldatiert — erroneous in date
  • German: zeitwidrig — erroneous in date
  • Greek: αναχρονιστικός (anachronistikós) — erroneous in date
  • Hebrew: אֲנַכְרוֹנִיסְטִי (anakhronisti) — erroneous in date
  • Hungarian: anakronisztikus — erroneous in date
  • Irish: mí-aimseartha — erroneous in date
  • Italian: anacronistico — erroneous in date
  • Japanese: 時代錯誤の (jidaisakugo no) — erroneous in date
  • Korean: 시대 착오 (sidae chago) — erroneous in date
  • Latin: anachronicus — erroneous in date
  • Latin: anachronisticus — erroneous in date
  • Luxembourgish: anachronistesch — erroneous in date
  • Manx: mee-emshiragh — erroneous in date
  • Polish: anachroniczny — erroneous in date
  • Brazilian Portuguese: anacrônico — erroneous in date
  • European Portuguese: anacrónico — erroneous in date
  • Romanian: anacronic — erroneous in date
  • Russian: анахрони́ческий (anaxroníčeskij) — erroneous in date
  • Russian: анахрони́чный (anaxroníčnyj) — erroneous in date
  • Spanish: anacrónico — erroneous in date
  • Tagalog: laos na — erroneous in date
  • Galician: anacrónico — preferring past things and values
  • German: anachronistisch — preferring past things and values
  • German: altmodisch — preferring past things and values
  • German: veraltet — preferring past things and values
  • German: überkommen — preferring past things and values
  • German: antiquiert — preferring past things and values
  • German: traditionalistisch — preferring past things and values
  • German: obsolet — preferring past things and values
  • German: unzeitgemäß — preferring past things and values
  • Polish: anachroniczny — preferring past things and values
  • Brazilian Portuguese: anacrônico — preferring past things and values
  • European Portuguese: anacrónico — preferring past things and values
  • Spanish: anacrónico — preferring past things and values
Real reading context

anachronistic in complete knowledge articles