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former

adjective · noun

Simple meaning

First of aforementioned two items.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

fawrmer

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈfɔɹmɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Referring to the first of two things or persons mentioned (or the earlier one or ones of several); I prefer the former version to the latter one"

  2. First of aforementioned two items. Used with the, often without a noun.

  3. Previous.

noun

  1. Someone who forms something; a maker; a creator or founder.

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

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner (estimated)
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Referring to the first of two things or persons mentioned (or the earlier one or ones of several); I prefer the former version to the latter one"

Used this way, former is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • quondam , more formal, and heavier in everyday conversation
  • erstwhile , more formal, and heavier in everyday conversation

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use former

  • “Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the former is remembered today.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

former caseformer presidentformer daysformer stateformer yearsformer yugoslaviaformer governor

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • formnounBase word

    The phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • formationnounDerived noun · specialist

    An arrangement of people or things acting as a unit.

  • formaladjectiveDerived adjective

    Being in accord with established forms and conventions and requirements (as e.g. of formal dress).

  • formerlyadverbDerived adverb

    At a previous time.

  • formallyadverbDerived adverb

    With official authorization.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • former armed forcesnounCompound term

    A terrorist organization that seeks to overthrow the government dominated by Tutsi and to institute Hutu control again.

  • sixth-formernounCompound term

    A student in the sixth form.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: referring to the first of two things

onetimequondamFormal

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.