former
adjective
for·mer
| \ ˈfȯr-mər
\
\
Definition of former
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a
: coming before in time
She now appears like her former self.
b
: of, relating to, or occurring in the past
former correspondence restoring the theater to its former glory
2
: preceding in place or arrangement : foregoing
the former part of the chapter
3
: first in order of two or more things cited or understood
of the two given, the former spelling is more common of the two spellings, the former is more common
4
: having been previously : onetime
a former athlete her former husband
former
noun
form·er
| \ ˈfȯr-mər
\
\
Definition of former (Entry 2 of 2)
1
: one that forms
2
chiefly British
: a member of a school form
—usually used in combination sixth former
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Synonyms for former
Synonyms: Adjective
erstwhile, late, old, once, onetime, other, past, quondam, sometime, whilom
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Examples of former in a Sentence
Adjective
the coach is a former professional baseball player the former manual had some errors, but the current version has its own problemsRecent Examples on the Web: Adjective
The steamy song, which is former President Barack Obama approved, has been heating up the charts, and the duo have apparently started some IRL romance of their own. — Lauren Rearick, Teen Vogue, "Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello Performed "Señorita" at the MTV VMAs 2019," 27 Aug. 2019 Chun is a Strongsville native, Ohio State grad and former Ohio State assistant athletic director. — Doug Lesmerises, cleveland.com, "An interview with Lane Kiffin, who brings FAU to Ohio State as part of his backward career: Doug Lesmerises," 26 Aug. 2019 Cherilyn Morris, the former Plano East Senior High School girls basketball coach, left Plano ISD after an internal investigation by the district upheld the employee's claims of harassment. — Dallas News, "Plano East basketball coach quit after investigation upheld claim she sexually harassed district employee," 26 Aug. 2019 Kaveh Madani, a former deputy director at the Department of Environment, said he was forced to leave Iran after he was arrested early last year and interrogated by the Revolutionary Guard. — Ben Guarino, Washington Post, "Environmentalists filmed Iran’s vanishing cheetahs. Now they could be executed for spying.," 25 Aug. 2019 In fact, Ikhrata recently went so far as to fire three of SANDAG’s top staff members who had been closely aligned with the agency’s former executive director, Gary Gallegos. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Truce over San Diego’s vision for high-speed rail on the rocks, fears reemerge over nixing highway expansions," 24 Aug. 2019 The former Michigan star and ESPN analyst was asked about the Wolverines’ chances against Big Ten rival Ohio State this season during College GameDay’s broadcast from Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. — Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, "Desmond Howard apologizes for off-color joke during ‘College GameDay;’ Wayne Brady weighs in," 24 Aug. 2019 Pinky Whitney, a neighbor and former pro baseball player, encouraged him to seek work with the new sports team in town. — John Maccormack, ExpressNews.com, "Pete Anton, 94, worked for the Spurs from the very beginning," 24 Aug. 2019 Earlier this week, Barr removed the prison agency's acting director and installed former BOP Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer to serve another term as chief of the nation's largest prison system. — Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY, "Justice Department: Psychologist removed Jeffrey Epstein from suicide watch," 23 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
The latter, now in The Ridges Sanctuary, were built to safely guide ships into the harbor, while the former went up as a navigational marker, according to Hal Wilson of the Door County Maritime Museum, which maintains the lighthouse. — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "To get to the 150-year-old Cana Island Lighthouse, you have to ride a wagon through Lake Michigan," 6 Sep. 2019 The album was recorded in cities throughout the US and Europe, inspired greatly by his time as producer on Charlotte Gainsbourg's album Rest and Frank Ocean's Blonde, the former of whom appears on Sebastian's LP. — Kat Bein, Billboard, "Sebastian Unveils 'Thirst' Track List, Shares Mayer Hawthorne Single 'Better Now': Listen," 5 Sep. 2019 Just as the article is available with a Google search, so, too, is the lawsuit, though the latter has been cited on the rarest occasions while the former has been recycled over and over again. — Jerome Groopman, The New York Review of Books, "Medicine in the Gray Zone," 9 May 2019 In general, these are higher among practitioners than scientists, given that the former's income is directly related to their practice. — John Timmer, Ars Technica, "New poll finds the US generally trusts scientists, with some exceptions," 4 Aug. 2019 The former are charging hard to the left while the latter seek a more moderate course. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Column: Young voters seem more engaged as 2020 election approaches," 5 July 2019 One of the earliest non-theme original songs featured on the show, the Spongebob-Plankton duet demonstrates the former's undying optimism that is juxtaposed by the latter’s entertainingly wicked spirit. — Bianca Gracie, Billboard, "'SpongeBob SquarePants' Voice Actor Tom Kenny, Songwriter Andy Paley & More Reflect on 20 Years of Laughter & Music," 23 July 2019 Ertz and Mewis normally rotate as defensive midfielders, but the former's move to defence meant that Mewis moved over to a right midfield position, while Rose Lavelle and Lindsey Horan took the other midfield slots. — SI.com, "USWNT: Making the Case for Sam Mewis to Play a Key Role at the Women's World Cup," 13 June 2019 Paul Lupo and Steve Jarding, the former of whom was a national debate champion at Emory University. — Jason Lalljee, USA TODAY, "De Blasio asks son for debate advice to incredulous Twitter reception," 23 May 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'former.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for former
former
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of former
—used to say what someone or something was in the past
: existing in the past
See the full definition for former in the English Language Learners Dictionary
former
adjective
for·mer