archaic
archaic Lexical Profile
archaic Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Very old or old-fashioned; no longer in everyday use and out of step with modern standards.
"The company finally replaced its archaic filing system with a cloud-based database."
Of a word or linguistic form: belonging to an earlier period of a language and no longer in ordinary use, though occasionally retained for literary, poetic, or liturgical effect.
"Shakespearean plays contain many archaic pronouns and verb endings that modern students must learn to recognize."
Belonging to or characteristic of a much earlier or primitive historical period, especially the period of Greek history and art from roughly 750 to 480 BC preceding the Classical era.
"The museum acquired an archaic marble statue featuring the stiff posture and characteristic smile of early Greek sculpture."
Word Nuance & Usage
In lexicography, 'archaic' describes words or senses that were once common in standard speech and writing (such as 'thou' or 'hath') but are now used only in specialized contexts like poetry, liturgy, or historical fiction, whereas 'obsolete' refers to words that have disappeared from use entirely.
• Rhymes for archaic
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 19th century from French archaïque, from Ancient Greek archaïkos ('old-fashioned, primitive'), derived from archē ('beginning, origin').