What does "antediluvian" mean?
A person who lived in the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, especially one of the biblical patriarchs.
Antediluvian
/ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/ adj, noun
adj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person who lived in the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, especially one of the biblical patriarchs.
- Grammar: antediluvian is listed as adj, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: antiquated, archaic, aboriginal, aborigine.
- Useful contrasts: contemporary, contemporary practice, modern.
- Usage evidence: The vampire was born in the antediluvian world.
How to use "antediluvian"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "antediluvian" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "antediluvian" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "antediluvian" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "antediluvian" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "antediluvian" is acting as adj, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "antiquated" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "antediluvian", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person who lived in the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, especially one of the biblical patriarchs.
- 2 a very old person wordnet
- 3 A very old person. excessive, figuratively, humorous
"From what cursed old antediluvian, who lived before the invention of the spinning-jennies, she learned this craft, Heaven only knows; […]"
- 4 any of the early patriarchs who lived prior to the Noachian deluge wordnet
- 5 A person with extremely old-fashioned attitudes, ideas, etc., especially to a laughable extent; a fogey or old fogey. excessive, figuratively, humorous
Adjective
- 1 Belonging or pertaining to, or existing in, the time prior to the great flood described in Genesis, or (by extension) to a great or destructive flood or deluge described in other mythologies.
"[P]erhaps ſome perſons might outlive Methuſelah; the Text intending onely the maſculine line of Seth, conduceable unto the Genealogy of our Saviour, and the antediluvian Chronology."
- 2 Of animals and plants: long extinct; prehistoric. broadly
"Having already described him [the whale] in most of his present habitatory and anatomical peculiarities, it now remains to magnify him in an archæological, fossiliferous, and antediluvian point of view."
- 3 Of a person or thing: very old; ancient. excessive, figuratively, humorous
"[H]is eldest son Bo-bo, […] let some sparks escape into a bundle of straw, which kindling quickly, spread the conflagration over every part of their poor mansion, till it was reduced to ashes. Together with the cottage (a sorry antediluvian make-shift of a building, you may think it), what was of much more importance, a fine litter of new-farrowed pigs, no less than nine in number, perished."
- 4 Of attitudes, ideas, etc.: extremely old-fashioned, especially to a laughable extent; antiquated. excessive, figuratively, humorous
"Those ideas are antediluvian."
Adjective
- 1 so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period wordnet
- 2 of or relating to the period before the biblical flood wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"The vampire was born in the antediluvian world."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "antediluvian"?
Common synonyms include: antiquated, archaic, aboriginal, aborigine, age old, age-old.
How do you use "antediluvian" in a sentence?
The vampire was born in the antediluvian world.
How do you pronounce "antediluvian"?
Pronounced /ˌæn.tɪ.dɪˈluː.vɪ.ən/.
Etymology
PIE word *dwís From ante- (prefix meaning ‘prior to in time’) + Latin dīluvium (“a flood”) + -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives; and forming agent nouns), referring the story of Noah’s Ark, through which God rescues Noah, his family, and examples of all the world’s animals from the great flood, which is related in Genesis 6–9 of the Bible. Dīluvium is derived from dīluō (“to wash away”) (from dis- (prefix meaning ‘apart, asunder, in two’) + lavō (“to wash”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”))) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The English word is analyzable as ante- + diluvian. Adjective sense 2 (“long extinct”) is from the fact that such animals and plants were originally believed to have perished in the biblical flood referred to above.