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anachronous

anachronous

9.9
A person or thing that belongs to a different time and feels out of place now
  • adjective
  • /əˈnækrənəs/
translation icon : anacrónico
  • The movie’s use of past technology felt anachronous compared to its modern setting.

Examples

  • His anachronous references to ancient philosophers confused the younger audience.

  • Her fashion choices seemed anachronous, as if she had stepped out of a different era.

  • Some of these events may be anachronous.

    Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

archaic
vsanachronous
34 9.9

Very old and not used in everyday life

signals belonging to a different time rather than only being unused now
antiquated
vsanachronous
32 8.2

Very old and not useful or suitable now

implies being out of place in time rather than just being ineffective now
bygone
vsanachronous
16 8.0

From an earlier time that is now past

stresses being out of place in time rather than simply originating earlier
anachronistic
vsanachronous
9 9.6

Belonging to an earlier time and not fitting the present

has the same time-misplacement meaning and is effectively interchangeable in use
behind the times
vsanachronous
7 4.8

Old-fashioned and not keeping up with new ideas

refers specifically to being out of time rather than only lacking updates
dated
vsanachronous
3 6.2

Not modern and looking old-fashioned

focuses on being out of time rather than merely looking old-fashioned
antediluvian
vsanachronous
2 9.9

Very old-fashioned and out of date

marks general time-misplacement but not necessarily the extreme ancientness implied here
anachronic
vsanachronous
9.9

Belonging to a different time and not fitting the present

expresses the same temporal displacement but with slightly different wording
behind its time
vsanachronous
7.6

Out of date and not keeping up with current ideas

denotes being chronologically out of place, not just behind current trends

Antonyms

1.0

Happening now at this time

28 4.2

Happening at the same time as someone or something else

How Outdated

archaic
34 9.9
anachronous
9.9
outdated
78 5.0
old-fashioned
149 4.7

Surface Forms

anachronous positive

Morphology

anachronous = anachronism (transparent) = ana + chron + ous

The adjective is directly formed from the noun 'anachronism' by a standard adjectival suffix, so learners who know the noun will readily recognize the adjective.

Etymology

Anachronous comes from Greek parts ana- meaning 'back' and chronos meaning 'time', as in chronology. So something anachronous is 'out of time'—it belongs to a different time and feels out of place today.