Phrase guide

where are the snows of yesteryear

phrase · 1 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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌ(h)wɛəɹ‿ɑː ðə ˈsnəʊz‿əv ˈjɛstəjɪə/
  • Received-Pronunciation, British, Southern, Standard: /ˌwɛːɹ-/
  • General-American: /ˌ(h)wɛəɹ‿ɑɹ ðə ˈsnoʊz‿əv ˈjɛstəɹˌjɪ(ə)ɹ/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

phrase

Meaning 1

Used to emphasize that life or time passes quickly.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, literary, rhetoric

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From the poem “The Ballad of Dead Ladies” by the English poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882) (see the quotation below), an 1869 translation of the line “Mais où sont les neiges d’antan” from “Ballade des dames du temps jadis” (“Ballade of Ladies of Time Gone By”, written 1461) by the French poet François Villon (c. 1431 – p. 1463).

Across languages

Translations

4 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: aika rientää — used to emphasize that life or time passes quickly
  • Finnish: niin muuttuu maailma, Eskoni — used to emphasize that life or time passes quickly
  • French: où sont les neiges d'antan — used to emphasize that life or time passes quickly
  • German: wo ist der Schnee vom vergangenen Jahr — used to emphasize that life or time passes quickly