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CIDE DICTIONARY
OXFORD DICTIONARY
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THESAURUS
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obsolete
CIDE DICTIONARY
obsolete, a. [L. obsoletus, p. p. of obsolescere. See Obsolescent.].
- No longer in use; gone into disuse; disused; neglected; as, an obsolete word; an obsolete statute; -- applied chiefly to words, writings, or observances. [1913 Webster]
- Not very distinct; obscure; rudimental; imperfectly developed; abortive. [1913 Webster]
Syn. -- Ancient; antiquated; old-fashioned; antique; old; disused; neglected. See Ancient.
obsolete, v. i.
To become obsolete; to go out of use. Fitzed. Hall. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
obsolete, adj.
1 disused, discarded, antiquated.
2 Biol. less developed than formerly or than in a cognate species; rudimentary.
1 disused, discarded, antiquated.
2 Biol. less developed than formerly or than in a cognate species; rudimentary.
Derivative
obsoletely adv. obsoleteness n. obsoletism n.
Etymology
L obsoletus past part. (as OBSOLESCENT)
DEVIL DICTIONARY
obsolete
adj. No longer used by the timid. Said chiefly of words. A word which some lexicographer has marked obsolete is ever thereafter an object of dread and loathing to the fool writer, but if it is a good word and has no exact modern equivalent equally good, it is good enough for the good writer. Indeed, a writer's attitude toward "obsolete" words is as true a measure of his literary ability as anything except the character of his work. A dictionary of obsolete and obsolescent words would not only be singularly rich in strong and sweet parts of speech; it would add large possessions to the vocabulary of every competent writer who might not happen to be a competent reader.THESAURUS
obsolete
abandoned, abjured, ago, ancient, antediluvian, antiquate, antiquated, antique, archaic, behind the times, blown over, by, bygone, bypast, dated, dead, dead and buried, deceased, defunct, demode, departed, deserted, discarded, discontinued, disused, done with, elapsed, expired, extinct, finished, forgotten, gone, gone glimmering, gone out, gone-by, has-been, hors de combat, irrecoverable, lapsed, no more, not worth saving, obsolesce, obsolescent, off the field, old, old hat, old-fashioned, old-time, old-timey, on the shelf, out, out of commission, out of date, out of fashion, out of gear, out of style, out of use, out-of-date, outdated, outmoded, outworn, over, passe, passed, passed away, past, past use, pensioned off, relinquished, renounced, resigned, retired, run out, superannuate, superannuated, superseded, unused, vanished, worn-out, wound upROGET THESAURUS
obsolete
Neologism
N neology, neologism, newfangled expression, nonce expression, back-formation, caconym, barbarism, archaism, black letter, monkish Latin, corruption, missaying, malapropism, antiphrasis, pun, paranomasia, play upon words, word play, double- entendre, palindrome, paragram, anagram, clinch, abuse of language, abuse of terms, dialect, brogue, idiom, accent, patois, provincialism, regionalism, localism, broken English, lingua franca, Anglicism, Briticism, Gallicism, Scotticism, Hibernicism, Americanism, Gypsy lingo, Romany, pidgin, pidgin English, pigeon English, Volapuk, Chinook, Esperanto, Hindustani, kitchen Kaffir, dog Latin, macaronics, gibberish, confusion of tongues, Babel, babu English, chi-chi, figure of speech, byword, colloquialism, informal speech, informal language, substandard language, vernacular, vulgar language, obscene language, obscenity, vulgarity, jargon, technical terms, technicality, lingo, slang, cant, argot, St. Gile's Greek, thieves' Latin, peddler's French, flash tongue, Billingsgate, Wall Street slang, pseudology, pseudonym, Mr, So-and-so, wha d'ye call 'em, whatchacallim, what's his name, thingummy, thingumbob, je ne sais quoi, neologist, coiner of words, neologic, neological, archaic, obsolete, colloquial, Anglice.Inutility
N inutility, uselessness, inefficacy, futility, ineptitude, inaptitude, unsubservience, inadequacy, inefficiency, unskillfulness, disservice, unfruitfulness (unproductiveness), labor in vain, labor lost, labor of Sisyphus, lost trouble, lost labor, work of Penelope, sleeveless errand, wild goose chase, mere farce, tautology, supererogation, vanitas vanitatum, vanity, inanity, worthlessness, nugacity, triviality, caput mortuum, waste paper, dead letter, blunt tool, litter, rubbish, junk, lumber, odds and ends, cast-off clothes, button top, shoddy, rags, orts, trash, refuse, sweepings, scourings, offscourings, waste, rubble, debris, detritus, stubble, leavings, broken meat, dregs, weeds, tares, rubbish heap, dust hole, rudera, deads, fruges consumere natus, useless, inutile, inefficacious, futile, unavailing, bootless, inoperative, inadequate, inservient, unsubservient, inept, inefficient, of no avail, ineffectual, incompetent, stale, flat and unprofitable, superfluous, dispensable, thrown away, abortive, worthless, valueless, priceless, unsalable, not worth a straw, dear at any price, vain, empty, inane, gainless, profitless, fruitless, unserviceable, unprofitable, ill-spent, unproductive, hors de combat, effete, past work, obsolete, fit for the dust hole, good for nothing, of no earthly use, not worth having, not worth powder and shot, leading to no end, uncalled for, unnecessary, unneeded, uselessly, to little purpose, to no purpose, to little or no purpose, Int, cui bono?, what's the good!, actum ne agas, chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin, tanto buon che val niente.The Past
N the past, past time, days of yore, times of yore, days of old, times of old, days past, times past, days gone by, times gone by, bygone days, old times, ancient times, former times, fore time, the good old days, the olden time, good old time, auld lang syne, eld, antiquity, antiqueness, status quo, time immemorial, distance of time, remote age, remote time, remote past, rust of antiquity, paleontology, paleography, paleology, paleozoology, palaetiology, archaeology, paleogeography, paleoecology, paleobotany, paleoclimatoogy, archaism, antiquarianism, medievalism, Pre-Raphaelitism, paleography, retrospect, retrospection, looking back, memory, laudator temporis acti, medievalist, Pre-Raphaelite, antiquary, antiquarian, archmologist, Oldbuck, Dryasdust, ancestry, past, gone, gone by, over, passed away, bygone, foregone, elapsed, lapsed, preterlapsed, expired, no more, run out, blown over, has-been, that has been, extinct, antediluvian, antebellum, never to return, gone with the wind, exploded, forgotten, irrecoverable, obsolete, former, pristine, quondam, ci-devant, late, ancestral, foregoing, last, latter, recent, over night, preterperfect, preterpluperfect, looking back, retrospective, retroactive, archaeological, paleo-, archaeo-, formerly, of old, of yore, erst, whilom, erewhile, time was, ago, over, in the olden time, anciently, long ago, long since, a long while, a long time ago, years ago, yesteryear, ages ago, some time ago, some time since, some time back, yesterday, the day before yesterday, last year, ultimo, lately, retrospectively, ere now, before now, till now, hitherto, heretofore, no longer, once, once upon a time, from time immemorial, from prehistoric times, in the memory of man, time out of mind, already, yet, up to this time, ex post facto, time was, the time has been, the time hath been, you can't go home again, fuimus Troes, fruit Ilium, hoc erat in more majorum, O call back yesterday, bid time return, tempi passati, the eternal landscape of the past, ultimus Romanorum, what's past is prologue, whose yesterdays look backward with a smile, Time with reference to a particular period.Oldness
N oldness, age, antiquity, cobwebs of antiquity, maturity, decline, decay, senility, seniority, eldership, primogeniture, archaism, thing of the past, relic of the past, megatherium, Sanskrit, tradition, prescription, custom, immemorial usage, common law, old, ancient, antique, of long standing, time-honored, venerable, elder, eldest, firstborn, prime, primitive, primeval, primigenous, paleolontological, paleontologic, paleoanthropological, paleoanthropic, paleolithic, primordial, primordinate, aboriginal, diluvian, antediluvian, protohistoric, prehistoric, antebellum, colonial, precolumbian, patriarchal, preadamite, paleocrystic, fossil, paleozoolical, paleozoic, preglacial, antemundane, archaic, classic, medieval, Pre-Raphaelite, ancestral, black-letter, immemorial, traditional, prescriptive, customary, whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contr, inveterate, rooted, antiquated, of other times, rococo, of the old school, after-age, obsolete, out of date, out of fashion, out of it, stale, old-fashioned, behind the age, old-world, exploded, gone out, gone by, passe, run out, senile, time worn, crumbling, secondhand, old as the hills, old as Methuselah, old as Adam, old as history, Archeozoic, Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, Precambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Tertiary, Paleogene, Neocene, Quaternary, Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, Recent, since the world was made, since the year one, since the days of Methuselah, vetera extollimus recentium incuriosi.Vulgarity
N vulgarity, vulgarism, barbarism, Vandalism, Gothicism, mauvis gout, bad taste, gaucherie, awkwardness, want of tact, ill-breeding, courseness, indecorum, misbehavior, lowness, homeliness, low life, mauvais ton, rusticity, boorishness, brutality, rowdyism, blackguardism, ribaldry, slang, bad joke, mauvais plaisanterie, gaudiness, tawdriness, false ornament, finery, frippery, trickery, tinsel, gewgaw, clinquant, baroque, rococo, rough diamond, tomboy, hoyden, cub, unlicked cub, clown, Goth, Vandal, Boeotian, snob, cad, gent, parvenu, frump, dowdy, slattern, in bad taste vulgar, unrefined, coarse, indecorous, ribald, gross, unseemly, unbeseeming, unpresentable, contra bonos mores, ungraceful, dowdy, slovenly, ungenteel, shabby genteel, low, common, hoi polloi, uncourtly, uncivil, ill bred, ill mannered, underbred, ungentlemanly, ungentlemanlike, unladylike, unfeminine, wild, wild as an unbacked colt, untutored, unschooled (ignorant), unkempt, uncombed, untamed, unlicked, unpolished, uncouth, plebeian, incondite, heavy, rude, awkward, homely, homespun, home bred, provincial, countrified, rustic, boorish, clownish, savage, brutish, blackguard, rowdy, snobbish, barbarous, barbaric, Gothic, unclassical, doggerel, heathenish, tramontane, outlandish, uncultivated, Bohemian, obsolete, unfashionable, newfangled, odd, particular, affected, meretricious, extravagant, monstrous, horrid, shocking, gaudy, tawdry, overornamented, baroque, rococo, bedizened, tricked out, gingerbread, obtrusive.For further exploring for "obsolete" in Webster Dictionary Online