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prewar

prewar

10 4.3
From the time before a war, often before World War I or II
  • adjective
  • /ˈpriˌwɔr/
translation icon : prebélico
  • From their prewar wardrobes, they relinquished the fantasy of their Schiaparelli or the grandeur of their Balenciagas.
  • prewar period
  • prewar territory
  • return to prewar

Examples

  • With the cessation of hostilities, the number of pilgrims has begun to rebound to prewar levels.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Germany thus relinquished claims to 114,549 square kilometers of prewar territory east of the Oder and Neisse rivers.

    Academic text (1991)
  • And I guess that's why we seem to have a prewar way of life here.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • The French female in the prewar period was always the young, attractive Marianne.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Amid these dandy images of prewar San Francisco, two photographs captured my attention.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Under the previous regime, such institutions were a pale shadow of their prewar selves.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Like all other prewar economic associations, the CCIAB was adversely affected by the war.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Obviously, many prewar militia officers were simply too old or unsuited to the demands of wartime.

    Academic text (1995)
  • 22-year-old Ellie examines it, then looks up in apprehension at the old prewar Spanish structure of Cal Tech.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The museum has a fascinating collection of prewar artifacts that showcase everyday life before World War II.

Synonyms

antebellum
vsprewar
  • US
6 9.9

Relating to the time before a war, especially the American Civil War

focuses on times before World War I or II, not the American Civil War

Antonyms

32 4.0

Relating to the time just after a war, especially a big one

Surface Forms

prewar positive

Morphology

prewar = war (transparent) = pre + war

The prefix 'pre-' straightforwardly means 'before', so 'prewar' directly means 'before the war' or belonging to the period before it.

Etymology

The word prewar is made of the prefix pre- meaning 'before' and the word war, so it simply means something that existed or happened before a particular war. That's why we talk about prewar buildings or prewar years to mean they are from the time just before, often before World War I or World War II.