Standard Lemma guide

erstwhile

adj · adv · 4 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.

  • UK: /ˈɜː(ɹ)st.waɪl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈɝst.waɪl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: ER1 S T W AY2 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Former, previous.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: India, literary, not-comparable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: former, once, previous, quondam, onetime, antecedent, anterior, earlier, erstwhile, ex, foregone, hitherto, old, olden, past, preceding, precedent, prior, sometime, used-to-be, whilom

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Respected, honourable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, proscribed

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adv

Meaning 3

Formerly; in the past.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: formal, literary, not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adverb

Meaning 4

at a previous time;

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • at one time he loved her
  • her erstwhile writing
  • she was a dancer once

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: once, formerly, at one time, erst

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From erst (“first, formerly”) + while.

Across languages

Translations

32 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: əvvəlki — former, previous
  • Chinese Cantonese: 以前嘅 (ji5 cin4 ge3) — former, previous
  • Chinese Cantonese: 過去嘅 /过去嘅 (gwo3 heoi3 ge3) — former, previous
  • Czech: bývalý — former, previous
  • Czech: někdejší — former, previous
  • Dutch: voormalig — former, previous
  • Dutch: vroeger — former, previous
  • Dutch: toenmalig — former, previous
  • Esperanto: antaŭa — former, previous
  • Finnish: varhempi — former, previous
  • Finnish: entinen — former, previous
  • Finnish: aiempi — former, previous
  • French: ancien — former, previous
  • French: d'autrefois — former, previous
  • Galician: anterior — former, previous
  • Galician: previo — former, previous
  • German: vormalig — former, previous
  • German: ehemalig — former, previous
  • German: früher — former, previous
  • Greek: πρώην (próin) — former, previous
  • Norwegian: fordums — former, previous
  • Polish: były — former, previous
  • Polish: dawny — former, previous
  • Portuguese: anterior — former, previous
  • Russian: было́й (bylój) — former, previous
  • Russian: пре́жний (préžnij) — former, previous
  • Serbo-Croatian: пређашње — former, previous
  • Swedish: tidigare — former, previous
  • Swedish: föregående — former, previous
  • Swedish: förre — former, previous
  • Swedish: före detta — former, previous
  • Ukrainian: коли́шній (kolýšnij) — former, previous