Meaning & use
yesteryear
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Meaning
noununcountableliteraryold-fashioned
The past, especially a time remembered with nostalgia or affection.
Grammar: Uncountable; often used with 'of' or 'in'.
Patterns
- in yesteryear
- the yesteryear of something
- days of yesteryear
The old photographs reminded her of yesteryear, when life seemed simpler.
He often spoke of the yesteryear of his youth with a wistful smile.
Common combinations
- days of yesteryear
- The festival celebrates the days of yesteryear with traditional costumes and music.
- in yesteryear
- In yesteryear, families would gather around the radio for entertainment.
- a relic of yesteryear
- The old typewriter is a relic of yesteryear.
Synonyms and how they differ
- the past
- The past is a general term for any earlier time; yesteryear is more literary and suggests nostalgia.
- olden days
- Olden days is also nostalgic but more informal and often used in set phrases like 'in the olden days'.
- antiquity
- Antiquity refers to ancient times, often before the Middle Ages, while yesteryear can refer to any recent past.
Opposites
Commonly confused: yesteryear or yesterdays?
yesteryear vs yesterdays
Yesterdays is the plural of 'yesterday' and refers to multiple specific days; yesteryear means the past in general.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence using 'yesteryear'.
Choose one answer.
Yesteryear is a noun meaning the past, often with nostalgia, so 'music from yesteryear' is correct. Option 1 uses future tense, which is incompatible. Option 3 is a nonsense definition. Option 4 uses yesteryear as an adverb, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “yesteryear”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.