yore

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   A long-ago time, often remembered fondly or as part of a legend.

   Grammar: Appears almost only in of yore or days of yore, with no article before it.

   Patterns

   • days of yore
   • of yore

   In days of yore, knights rode out to defend the castle.

   The village still holds the festival that its ancestors enjoyed in times of yore.

   Grandpa loved telling tales of yore around the fire.

2. 2noununcountablehumorous

   In a general sense, the distant past, used humorously for something that was true long ago.

   Grammar: Often playful when used about recent things: the phones of yore.

   Patterns

   • the something of yore

   The record shop of yore had walls full of vinyl.

   He sighed for the quiet trains of yore.

   Gone are the handwritten letters of yore.

Common combinations

days of yore

The tavern was a meeting place in the days of yore.

of yore

A hero of yore returns in this story.

tales of yore

The poem collects tales of yore from the region.

times of yore

People in times of yore traveled mostly on foot.

knights of yore

The game imagines the knights of yore.

Synonyms and how they differ

the past

The past is a neutral everyday phrase, while yore feels poetic and slightly humorous.

olden days

Olden days is a child-friendly phrase for the distant past, and is more casual than yore.

antiquity

Antiquity usually refers to ancient history such as Greece and Rome, not a general fond past.

yesteryear

Yesteryear suggests a recent nostalgic past, as in the stars of yesteryear, while yore sounds older and more legendary.

Opposites

Word family

yesteryear noun

a time in the past, remembered with nostalgia

yonder adverb

an old word for over there, unrelated in meaning but similar in style

Commonly confused: yore or your? yore or yaw?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “yore”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words