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to feel like a dinosaur

to feel like a dinosaur

8.8
To feel out of date compared to new things
  • idiom
translation icon : sentirse anticuado
  • However, none of my siblings have that work ethic, and I look around and feel like a dinosaur in a young man's body, as most of the people who share my passion for doing their own work are in the over 50 category.

Examples

  • Sometimes when using new technology, I feel like a dinosaur compared to younger people.

  • I feel like a dinosaur.

  • The only model with a spinning hard drive, the Classic offers massive amounts of storage but feels like a dinosaur compared to Apple's smaller, flash-based offerings.

    Blog text (30)
  • After seeing the latest smartphones, I can't help but feel like a dinosaur with my old flip phone.

  • When I try to keep up with the latest fashion trends, I often feel like a dinosaur among my friends.

Antonyms

1.4

Relating to the present time and new ways of doing things

64 3.1

Very fashionable and popular now

How Outdated

obsolete
93 5.8
archaic
34 9.9
to feel like a dinosaur
8.8
outdated
78 5.0
old-fashioned
149 4.7

Surface Forms

Morphology

feel + like + a + dinosaur

The phrase combines 'feel' (experience) with 'like' (similar to) and 'dinosaur' (a creature associated with being ancient or outdated), so a learner who knows the words can infer 'feeling old-fashioned or out of date.' The metaphor is straightforward and commonly used cross-linguistically, so the meaning is directly derivable from the constituents for an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Feel like a dinosaur comes from the clear image of a dinosaur — a very old creature that would seem out of place today. So when someone says they feel like a dinosaur, they mean they feel 'old-fashioned' or 'out of date' next to new things.