Words / C2

uh-NAKR-uh-niz-uh-m/əˈnækrənɪzəm/

An anachronism is something that belongs to another time and therefore feels out of place: a smartphone in a Victorian drama. Throwback is informal and can be affectionate; relic is close when the thing survives from the past. Anachronistic is the adjective. In speech, out of its time is enough. Historians also use it for errors of dating. It is not a synonym for old-fashioned if the object still belongs in its own era.

Meaning

Something that belongs to a different time and therefore seems out of place.

Examples

• “A smartphone in a Victorian drama is an anachronism.”
• “A wristwatch on a medieval saint is an anachronism, not a symbol.”
• “Compulsory hats in the dress code felt like an anachronism, even to the governors.”

Good to know

Out of its time. Adjective: anachronistic. Everyday: out of place in that period. Close: relic. Also: a dating error in a text.

Near in meaning

relic

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