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former

former

42 2.7
The first of two people or things mentioned
  • noun
  • /ˈfɔrmər/
translation icon : primero
  • The United States is capable of achieving the former, but not the latter.
  • the former, the latter
  • the former is more
  • the former refers to

The latter could change with time, the former, the vacuum energy cannot.

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Examples

  • And she is still in connection, according to one of my sources, with a former wife of Donald Trump in prison.

  • Of course, the former, not the latter.

  • Some friends, some clients, former clients, I guess I should say, some just people who were friends.

  • I learned from former students who are French that the French call French net just net.

  • The former is yellow cards, the latter is the red cards.

  • I have a quote from The Walking crime spree himself, former President Donald Trump.

  • I brought in a expert on China and the Russia Ukraine war, a former CIA operative.

  • Michael Sussman is a former partner at the law firm Perkins Coie.

  • They are very rare narratives of emancipation written by former slaves after the war.

  • The former mayor of the town is now running for governor.

Antonyms

74 2.8

The second of two people or things just mentioned

Idioms

A person or thing that is much weaker and less impressive than before

Compounds

1 6.9

A person who used to have sex for money but no longer does

1 9.3

A person who used to sell sex on the street

1 6.7

A student aged 16 to 18 in the final years of a British secondary school

A Rwandan rebel group that fought to overthrow the Tutsi government and restore Hutu rule

A person who used to be new to sailing

Surface Forms

former singular
formers plural

Etymology

Former as a noun names the 'first' of two things, from the same old idea of being 'first'. So the noun former tells you which one came earlier when two people or things are compared.