antediluvian
Syllables: an·te·di·luv·i·an/ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/US/ˌæn.ti.dəˈlu.vi.ən/
antediluvian adjective: belonging or pertaining to, or existing in, the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, or (by extension) to a great or destructive flood or deluge described in other mythologies.
Adjective
antediluvian (comparative more antediluvian, superlative most antediluvian)
- Belonging or pertaining to, or existing in, the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, or (by extension) to a great or destructive flood or deluge described in other mythologies.
- [P]erhaps ſome perſons might outlive Methuſelah; the Text intending onely the maſculine line of Seth, conduceable unto the Genealogy of our Saviour, and the antediluvian Chronology.1646, Thomas Browne, “Of Methuselah”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 7th book, pages 343–344
- For Noah, vvho had no doubt preach'd againſt the Vices of the Antediluvian VVorld, and againſt Drunkenneſs among the reſt, muſt certainly knovv the Uſe of the Vine, and the Abuſe of it too; hovv elſe did he come to plant it at all, and to preſs the Juice out for Drinking it at all?1727, [Daniel Defoe], “Of what Shapes the Devil Assum’d in His First Appearances to the Magicians, and Others, in the First Ages of the World; and whether He is, or has been,, Allow’d to Assume a...
- Synonyms:
- antediluvial, prediluvian, preflood
- Antonyms:
- postdiluvial, postdiluvian
- Of animals and plants: long extinct; prehistoric.
- Having already described him [the whale] in most of his present habitatory and anatomical peculiarities, it now remains to magnify him in an archæological, fossiliferous, and antediluvian point of view.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Fossil Whale”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 506
- Of a person or thing: very old; ancient.
- [H]is eldest son Bo-bo, […] let some sparks escape into a bundle of straw, which kindling quickly, spread the conflagration over every part of their poor mansion, till it was reduced to ashes. Together with the cottage (a sorry antediluvian make-shift of a building, you may think it), what was of...1823, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], “A Dissertation upon a Roast Pig”, in Elia. Essays which have Appeared under that Signature in The London Magazine, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and...
- On the shore were the remains of an antediluvian forest with ugly black stumps showing, and further up an old stubby deserted lighthouse.1947, Malcolm Lowry, chapter 1, in Under the Volcano, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock
- Of attitudes, ideas, etc.: extremely old-fashioned, especially to a laughable extent; antiquated.
- Those ideas are antediluvian.
- If, by any miſchance, and in an evil hour, ſome country couſin, not knovving my vvays, or ſome antediluvian prig, not minding them, happen to fall upon me vvith formal ſpeeches, vvhere I can make no eſcape, a fit of yavvning takes me immediately, and I am demoliſhed for the reſt of the day.1796, [Frances Burney], “A Chat”, in Camilla: Or, A Picture of Youth. […], volume III, London: […] T[homas] Payne, […]; and T[homas] Cadell Jun. and W[illiam] Davies (successors to Mr. [Thomas]...
- Synonyms:
- antediluvial, out of the ark, anachronistic, antiquated, antique, archaic, backward, backwards, behind the times, cobwebbed
Noun
antediluvian (plural antediluvians)
- A person who lived in the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, especially one of the biblical patriarchs.
- Synonyms:
- prediluvian
- A very old person.
- From what cursed old antediluvian, who lived before the invention of the spinning-jennies, she learned this craft, Heaven only knows; […]1823 December 23 (indicated as 1824), [Walter Scott], “Discussion”, in St Ronan’s Well. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst...
- He was a boy in form, and an antediluvian in feature. Some thought […] that he was really and truly a Brownie.1828 October, the Ettrick Shepherd [pseudonym; James Hogg], “The Brownie of the Black Haggs”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume XXIV, number CXLIV, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, […]; London...
- Synonyms:
- ager, antique, badge-cove, cheeser, coffin dodger, crinkly, eld, elder, elderly, geriatric
- Antonyms:
- bairn, brat, child, chit, crumb cruncher, crumb crusher, crumb grinder, crumb snatcher, fry, juvenile
- A person with extremely old-fashioned attitudes, ideas, etc., especially to a laughable extent; a fogey or old fogey.
antediluvian meaning in Tamil, Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada
antediluvian in Tamil
- ஆதி காலத்திய, தற்காலத்துக்கு ஒவ்வாத
antediluvian in Bengali
- অত্যন্ত প্রাচীন, সেকেলে
antediluvian in Malayalam
- prehistoric, primeval, primordial
- നോഹയുടെ കാലത്തെ മഹാപ്രളയത്തിനുമുമ്പുള്ള, അതിപുരാതന മായ, ജാംബവാ കാലത്തുള്ള, പ്രാക്തന, അതിപുരാതന, പൂർവ്വകാലിക
- outdated, out of date, outmoded
- കാലോചിതമല്ലാത്ത, കാലം കഴിഞ്ഞുപോയ, പുരാണ, പഴഞ്ചൻ, അറുപഴഞ്ചനായ, പഴഞ്ചൻമട്ടിലുള്ള
antediluvian in Kannada
- ಅತಿಪುರಾತನ, ಓಬಿರಾಯನ ಕಾಲದ, ಪ್ರಪ್ರಾಚೀನ
Synonyms of antediluvian
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- eldern
- gray
- hoary
- moss-grown
- old
- old as the hills
- old as the Pyramids
- older than dirt
- older than the hills
- older than the Pyramids
- venerable
- wintry
- out of the ark
- anachronistic
- antiquated
- antique
- archaic
- backward
- backwards
- behind the times
- dated
- defunct
- desuete
- discontinued
- disused
- dootsie
- elderly
- extinct
- expired
- fossilized
Antonyms
10 more antonymsFewer antonyms
Forms of antediluvian
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more antediluvian |
| superlative | most antediluvian |
| alternative form | antedeluvian |
| Noun | |
| plural | antediluvians |
Origin of antediluvian
PIE word *dwís From ante- (prefix meaning ‘prior to in time’) + Latin dīluvium (“a flood”) + -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming agent nouns), referring the story of Noah’s Ark, through which God rescues Noah, his family, and examples of all the world’s animals from the great flood, which is related in Genesis 6–9 of the Bible. Dīluvium is derived from dīluō (“to wash away”) (from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder, in two’) + lavō (“to wash”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”))) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The English word is analyzable as ante- + diluvian. Adjective sense 2 (“long extinct”) is from the fact that such animals and plants were originally believed to have perished in the biblical flood referred to above.
Words formed from antediluvian
Words that rhyme with antediluvian
Questions about antediluvian
- What does antediluvian mean?
- Antediluvian means belonging or pertaining to, or existing in, the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, or (by extension) to a great or destructive flood or deluge described in other mythologies.
- What is antediluvian in Tamil?
- Antediluvian in Tamil is ஆதி காலத்திய, தற்காலத்துக்கு ஒவ்வாத. See Antediluvian meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is antediluvian?
- Antediluvian can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce antediluvian?
- Antediluvian is pronounced /ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/ (UK).
Words near antediluvian in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: antediluvian (page history and authors); antediluvian (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); antediluvian (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); antediluvian (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); antediluvian (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-antediluvian.wav.
Cite this entry: “antediluvian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/antediluvian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.