Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for erstwhile. Search instead for gerstenhalms.
Definitions

erstwhile

[urst-hwahyl, -wahyl] / ˈɜrstˌʰwaɪl, -ˌwaɪl /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Compare that to the strapline you’d have to write for the erstwhile VW ID.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026

The erstwhile interim U.S. attorney, then, is in a pickle of his own making.

From Slate • Mar. 11, 2026

By the early aughts, erstwhile edgy rock stars like Courtney Love and Nina Gordon swapped their torn fishnets and rumpled slip dresses for French manicures and blown-out coifs.

From Salon • Feb. 19, 2026

One lesson that might worry the clerics and military men in Tehran comes from their erstwhile ally, former President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

From BBC • Jan. 13, 2026

Would Mr. Justice Dana be so good as to glance at this indenture—which the boy’s erstwhile master, Mr. Lapham, had been so kind as to lend him?

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes




Vocabulary lists containing erstwhile