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Meaning & use

bygone

adjective, noun·Academicliterary

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UK/ˈbaɪɡɒn/
US/ˈbaɪɡɔːn/

Meanings

  1. adjectivebefore a noun

    Belonging to a time long ago that has passed and will not return, often described with a touch of wistfulness.

    Grammar: Used before a noun, not after a verb: a bygone era, but not the era was bygone.

    Patterns

    • a bygone era/age/day

    The museum recreates the sights and smells of a bygone era.

    Old photographs gave her a window into bygone summers at the lake.

    He spoke fondly of bygone days when neighbors left their doors unlocked.

  2. nounpluralold-fashioned

    Things that happened in the past, especially old quarrels or wrongs, treated as finished.

    Grammar: Only used in the plural and mostly in the idiom let bygones be bygones.

    Patterns

    • let bygones be bygones

    After the long feud, the two families agreed to let bygones be bygones.

    Let bygones be bygones, and come to dinner on Sunday.

    She wanted to let bygones be bygones rather than hold a grudge.

Common combinations

bygone era
The train station feels like a relic of a bygone era.
bygone days
They swapped stories about bygone days at school.
bygone age
Knights belong to a bygone age.
bygone glory
The faded theater still hints at its bygone glory.
let bygones be bygones
It is time to let bygones be bygones and move on.

Synonyms and how they differ

past
Past is the plain, neutral word, while bygone adds a wistful or romantic tone.
former
Former simply points to something earlier in a sequence, as in a former boss, and carries no nostalgia.
olden
Olden is even more poetic and appears almost only in the phrase olden days.
vanished
Vanished stresses that something has disappeared completely, whereas bygone only says it belongs to the past.

Opposites

presentmodern

Word family

bygones noun
past offenses or quarrels, in the idiom let bygones be bygones
gone adjective
no longer present or existing

Commonly confused: bygone or gone by?

bygone vs gone by

Gone by is a verb phrase (the years gone by), while bygone is a single adjective placed before a noun.

Practice

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