Dictionary

old-timey en · ADJ

Etymology

Etymology tree English old Proto-Indo-European *deh₂- Proto-Indo-European *deh₂y- Proto-Indo-European *-mṓ Proto-Indo-European *dh₂i-mon- Proto-Germanic *tīmô Proto-West Germanic *tīmō Old English tīma Middle English tyme English time English old-time English -y English old-timey From old-time + -y.

Meanings

1. (US, informal) Reminiscent or representative of an older time.
   • In short, the old town—the lovablest, old-timiest, easy-goingest old town that ever was—sits there by the River, hugging its traditions, and hoarding its stories, of which it has enough to make a new Thousand and One Nights. 1895, M[ollie] E[velyn] M[oore] Davis, “Prologue. The Town and the River.”, in Under the Man-Fig, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company; Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, →OCLC, page 6:
   • Whereas some of the potters making unglazed gardenware have expanded their production, others now also make some "old-timey" utilitarian glazed stoneware. 1994, Nancy Sweezy, Raised in Clay: The Southern Pottery Tradition, page 274:
   • One of the main charms of the Southern scene was the number of "old-timey" practices that persisted. 1951, Margaret Cussler, Not by a Long Shot: Adventures of a Documentary Film Producer, page 51:
   • Near-synonyms: old-fashioned, antiquated, retro
   • The former ferry, now the standby tied up at the Steilacoom dock, is the 18-car, wooden-hull Islander, even old-timier and better. 1990, Harvey Manning, Penny Manning, “Anderson Island”, in Walks & Hikes Around Puget Sound (Footsore; 4), 2nd edition, Seattle, Wash.: The Mountaineers, →ISBN, “Islands in the South Sound” section, page 158:
   • But what’s a “Hawkeye” or a “Hoosier”? Indian tribes? Kinds of bird, maybe? This handy guide will help you decipher the seven oddest, old-timiest state nicknames. 2014, Ken Jennings, “Seventh Period”, in Maps and Geography (Ken Jennings’ Junior Genius Guides), New York, N.Y.: Little Simon, page 140:
   • For our Halloween party that year, he wove a whole aesthetic that was maximally retro. He rolled up in an old-timey car, wearing an old-timey outfit, spouting old-timey phrases. It was a magnificent performance.
   • That white man buys up all this old-timey stuff he can get his hands on, all through this country. The very tools I lived by, he sells em for antiques. 2000, Nate Shaw, Theodore Rosengarten, All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw, page 524:

Forms

Coordinates

nostalgic · of old · antique · classic

Deriveds

old-timeyness

Relateds

good old days · old-timer · olden times

Synonyms

old-fashioned · retro · antiquated · old-timely