top definitions
related content
examples
british

formerly

[ fawr-mer-lee ]

/ ˈfɔr mər li /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR formerly ON THESAURUS.COM

adverb

in time past; in an earlier period or age; previously: a custom formerly observed.

Obsolete. in time just past; just now.

Origin of formerly

First recorded in 1580–90; former¹ + -ly

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH formerly

formally formerly

Words nearby formerly

formboard, formby, forme, forme fruste, former, formerly, formfitting, formful, formic, formic acid, formica

Example sentences from the Web for formerly

Retired Det. Tom Nerney, formerly of the NYPD Major Case Squad, investigated Shakur.

Cuba Protects America’s Most Wanted |Michael Daly |December 18, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Missy Suicide, formerly known as Selena Mooney, is in New York for a series of brand-expansion meetings.

Masters of Alt Sex: SuicideGirls Hits Puberty and Wants to Invade Your TV Set |Marlow Stern |December 9, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Gaidar, formerly the vice governor of the Kirov Region, now educates people about how to deal with authorities.

Putin’s Health Care Disaster |Anna Nemtsova |November 30, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Donetsk, formerly a make-believe republic, is turning into a little neo-Soviet state.

East Ukraine: Back in the USSR |Jamie Dettmer |November 19, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Presumably, while our formerly sad animated heroine picks daisies in her garden (and it is almost always hers, not his).

Mother’s Little Anti-Psychotic Is Worth $6.9 Billion A Year |Jay Michaelson |November 9, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Before the war there was an average annual export of about 2,000 animals; but there is now a better local market than formerly.

Notes on Agriculture in Cyprus and Its Products |William Bevan
One great bug bear of the prairies was formerly the scarcity of timber.

The History of Peru |Henry S. Beebe
Slate quarries and copper and tin mines were formerly valuable.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 7 |Various
It was remarkable, too, how he kept up his interest in subjects at which he had formerly worked.

The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume I (of II) |Charles Darwin
His ambition and his simple personal successes had formerly distracted him from the sentiments which madame de Rnal had inspired.

The Red and the Black |Stendhal

British Dictionary definitions for formerly

formerly

/ (ˈfɔːməlɪ) /

adverb

at or in a former time; in the past

obsolete in the immediate past; just now