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out of fashion

out of fashion

12 3.4
Not popular or stylish now
  • idiom
translation icon : pasado de moda
  • Many of the trends from the 1990s are now out of fashion and rarely seen on the streets.
  • goes out of fashion
  • fall out of fashion

He also notes that this school is out of fashion with the Greeks.

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Examples

  • Romance, genius, charisma, individual brushstrokes, prophets, and demiurges have been out of fashion in Anglophone philosophy for several generations.

    Academic text (1996)
  • I regret that some of these seem to have gone out of fashion.

    Academic text (1991)
  • This stuff could go out of fashion real quick, right?

  • Used to be really popular... till it kind of went out of fashion.

  • A bit out of fashion these days.

  • I feel quite out of fashion.

  • Apparently knees are out of fashion.

  • Your wife says your ties are out of fashion.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Your suit is two years out of fashion, your shoes abominable, your dancing ridiculous--

  • Hemlines rise and fall in a predictable pattern; silhouettes become extreme and then fall out of fashion.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

old-fashioned
vsout of fashion
149 4.7

Not in style, like clothes or ideas from an earlier time

focuses on present popularity and trend absence rather than era traits
outdated
vsout of fashion
78 5.0

No longer useful or fashionable because it is old

focuses specifically on social popularity and fashion rather than usefulness
uncool
vsout of fashion
  • Informal
40 7.4

Not fashionable or popular and thought boring

is the simple state of losing popularity or being out of trend
out-of-date
vsout of fashion
34 4.4

No longer current or in use

refers mainly to social style and trend loss rather than formal validity
outmoded
vsout of fashion
11 6.5

No longer fashionable or useful

stresses being unfashionable at a time rather than total obsolescence
unfashionable
vsout of fashion
8 3.7

Few people wear it now because it is not in style

is more about being unpopular broadly, not only about trend following
dated
vsout of fashion
3 6.2

Not modern and looking old-fashioned

is about loss of current popularity or trendiness rather than historical traits
unhip
vsout of fashion
  • Informal
2 7.7

Not fashionable or aware of current trends

focuses on being unpopular or unfashionable rather than social awareness
old-hat
vsout of fashion
  • Informal
1 6.8

No longer new or fashionable

is simply about lack of current popularity without judgment on creativity
out
vsout of fashion
1 3.6

No longer fashionable or popular

is limited to loss of popularity and fashion, not broader exclusion
passe
vsout of fashion
8.4

No longer fashionable or modern

is the neutral idea of no longer being popular at a given time
demode
vsout of fashion
  • Archaic
9.9

No longer in fashion and looking old

is broader, also covering popularity beyond mere appearance
moss-grown
vsout of fashion
  • Offensive
9.9

Old and out of date in ideas, opinions, or ways

is the neutral description of lacking present-day popularity or style

Antonyms

27 2.6

Popular and seen as stylish now

How Fashionable

trendy
64 3.1
fashionable
85 2.6
classic
539 3.4
out of fashion
12 3.4
old-fashioned
149 4.7

Surface Forms

out of fashion positive

Morphology

out + of + fashion

The meaning 'no longer popular or stylish' is directly derivable from combining 'out' (not within/away from) with 'fashion' (style), with the prepositional pattern 'out of X' indicating exclusion from a category. This is a common, compositional English pattern and is cross-linguistically transparent enough that a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Out of fashion may come from old shops that moved last season's clothes away from the front window when a new style arrived. The clothes were put out of the main fashion display and kept in the back, so out of fashion means 'no longer popular or in style'.