| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| ancient, antiquated, antique (adjs.) |
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| All these synonyms mean “old,” but their full definitions partly distinguish each from the others: ancient means “very old, even classically old”; ancient history is the history of Greece and Rome and even earlier civilizations. Antique also means “ancient,” but particularly it has come to mean “old-fashioned, in an older style.” Anything antique or ancient may be either revered or scorned; antiquated, however, is pejorative, meaning “out-of-date, not useful, obsolete.” All these words are used widely in hyperbolic figurative senses too: something scornfully called ancient, antique, or antiquated may be no more than a few years old. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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