The difference between Erstwhile and Old

When used as adjectives, erstwhile means former, previous, whereas old means of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time. of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years. of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.

Erstwhile is also adverb with the meaning: formerly.

Old is also noun with the meaning: people who are old.

check bellow for the other definitions of Erstwhile and Old

  1. Erstwhile as an adverb:

    Formerly; in the past.

  1. Erstwhile as an adjective (literary, legal):

    Former, previous.

    Examples:

    "synonyms: former once previous quondam onetime Thesaurus:former"

  2. Erstwhile as an adjective (proscribed):

    Respected, honourable.

  1. Old as an adjective:

    Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time. Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years. Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.

    Examples:

    "an old abandoned building;  an old friend"

    "a wrinkled old man"

    "an old loaf of bread"

  2. Old as an adjective:

    Of an item that has been used and so is not new .

    Examples:

    "I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with."

  3. Old as an adjective:

    Having existed or lived for the specified time.

    Examples:

    "How old are they? She’s five years old and he's seven. We also have a young teen and a two-year-old child."

    "My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old."

  4. Old as an adjective:

    Of an earlier time. Former, previous. That is no longer in existence. Obsolete; out-of-date. Familiar.

    Examples:

    "My new car is not as good as my old one.  nowrap a school reunion for Old Etonians"

    "The footpath follows the route of an old railway line."

    "That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way."

    "When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho."

  5. Old as an adjective:

    Tiresome.

    Examples:

    "Your constant pestering is getting old."

  6. Old as an adjective:

    Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.

  7. Old as an adjective:

    A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)

    Examples:

    "We're having a good old time. nowrap My next car will be a big old SUV.  nowrap My wife makes the best little old apple pie in Texas."

  8. Old as an adjective (obsolete):

    Excessive, abundant.

  1. Old as a noun (with "the"):

    People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group.

    Examples:

    "A civilised society should always look after the old in the community."

Compare words:

Compare with synonyms and related words: