Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use former in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun

Former means previous. Example: “The former is a good idea but the latter is not.”

Examples of former by meaning

adjectivePrevious.

  • A former president
  • the former East Germany
  • The former-slaves-turned-abolitionists Quobna Ottobah Cugoano and Olaudah Equiano were the chief organizers of the Sons of Africa.2007, Junius P. Rodriguez, Encyclopedia of Emancipation and Abolition in the Transatlantic World

nounThe first of aforementioned two items.

  • The former is a good idea but the latter is not.
  • We have two cars, a red one and a blue one. We won the former on a game show.
  • Bananas are tastier than parsnips, but the latter’s nutritional value is higher than the former’s.

nounSomeone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.

  • Dave was the former of the company.

nounAn object used to form something, such as a template, gauge, or cutting die.

  • The brick arch was built using a wooden former.

More sentences with former

  • The former politician was left out in the cold after his friends deserted him.From the entry cold
  • The former carriage house had been made over into a guest house.From the entry house
  • Note the difference between progesterone and progrestogen: the former is simply a type of the latter.From the entry note
  • Wage earners that resemble nothing so much as former southern slaves.From the entry nothing
  • New sisters at the sorority have to agree to the pact set out by the former members.From the entry pact
  • Since the development of fiber optics, treatments utilizing catheterization have replaced some former surgical procedures.From the entry catheterization
  • The sleeve of the band's new CD includes illustrations from deceased former members.From the entry illustration
  • He's lost so much weight from illness; he's a shell of his former self.From the entry shell
  • Since coming back from Vietnam, he's been a shell of his former self.From the entry shell
  • Bagpipes are traditionally played in most Celtic regions and many former parts of the British Empire.From the entry bagpipes
  • His chains now broken, the prisoner turned a vengeful eye toward his former captors.From the entry vengeful
  • The former problem student surpassed his instructor's expectations and scored top marks on his examination.From the entry surpass
  • The government granted sanctuary to the defector, protecting him from his former government.From the entry sanctuary
  • He considered the former tooling hopeless, and he reported its hopelessness to his boss right away.From the entry hopelessness
  • When the soil swells on wetting, the former surficial material is mixed with the subsoil.From the entry surficial
  • His ineligibility as a contestant was due to his former employment by the sponsor.From the entry ineligibility
  • The guerrillas were a ragtag band of local thugs, former soldiers, displaced farmers, and political idealists.From the entry ragtag
  • Watergate turned out to be a black-bag operation by former CIA employees.From the entry black-bag
  • The reporter drew heavily on interviews with former members of the secretive group.From the entry draw on
  • Please welcome Brother Smith as he moves from his former congregation to his new congregation.From the entry brother
  • Please welcome Sister Smith as she moves from her former congregation to her new congregation.From the entry sister
  • Despite her family's wishes, she left Christianity, becoming a come-outer of her former faith.From the entry come-outer
  • Jack is a former fire damper who was injured in an explosion.From the entry fire damper
  • A former gold medallist, he nevertheless came away empty from this year's Olympic Games.From the entry come away empty
  • I keep in close contact with my former colleagues.From the entry close
  • The former flag of Libya is fully green.From the entry green
  • New York is a former capital of the USA.From the entry New York
  • They turned their arms against their former allies.From the entry turn against
  • He is but a pale shadow of his former self.From the entry pale
  • Many current NBA coaches are former point guards.From the entry point guard
  • The former employee returned to demand his withheld check.From the entry withheld
  • The bank's funds have been raided by former execs.From the entry raid

Meaning of former

  1. adjective Previous.
  2. noun The first of aforementioned two items.
  3. noun Someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.

Full definition of former

Questions about former in a sentence

How do you use former in a sentence?
Former is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “The former is a good idea but the latter is not.”
What is a short sentence with former?
“A former president”
What does former mean?
Former means previous.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: former (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use former in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/former. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.