Meaning & use
anachronism
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person, object, or detail that appears in the wrong historical period, such as a clock in a story set in ancient Rome.
Grammar: Countable: that watch is an anachronism.
Patterns
- an anachronism in something
A smartphone in a medieval drama would be a glaring anachronism.
Critics noted several anachronisms in the costume design.
The film's slang is a charming anachronism.
nouncountablefigurative
Something that is out of date and no longer suited to modern life, though it still exists.
Grammar: Often figurative: the custom is an anachronism.
Patterns
- an anachronism today
- seen as an anachronism
Many people regard the old law as an anachronism.
The fax machine has become an anachronism in most offices.
His formal manners seem like an anachronism.
Word forms
| plural | anachronisms |
|---|
Common combinations
- historical anachronism
- The novel contains a historical anachronism in its second chapter.
- glaring anachronism
- The wristwatch was a glaring anachronism in the Roman epic.
- an outdated anachronism
- The rule is an outdated anachronism.
- seen as an anachronism
- The monarchy is seen as an anachronism by some.
- a charming anachronism
- The old tram is a charming anachronism downtown.
Synonyms and how they differ
- relic
- A relic is something old that survives from the past, while an anachronism is out of place in a particular time.
- throwback
- Throwback is informal and often affectionate, pointing to something that recalls an earlier time.
- misdating
- Misdating names the error of giving the wrong date, whereas anachronism is the out-of-time item itself.
- dinosaur
- Dinosaur is an informal, often insulting, way to call a person or institution outdated.
Word family
- anachronistic adjective
- belonging to the wrong time
- anachronistically adverb
- in a way that is out of its time
- chronology noun
- the order in which events happened
- chronic adjective
- lasting a long time; shares the Greek root for time
Commonly confused: anachronism or anachronistic? anachronism or archaism?
anachronism vs anachronistic
Anachronistic is the adjective, as in an anachronistic costume, while anachronism is the noun naming the thing.
anachronism vs archaism
An archaism is an old-fashioned word or style used on purpose, while an anachronism is something placed in the wrong time.
Practice
A knight in a movie set in 1200 checking a wristwatch is an example of an ___.
Choose one answer.
A wristwatch in the thirteenth century is out of its time, which is an anachronism. The other words are unrelated.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “anachronism”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.