Print this Page Close this Window

Anachronistic

(pronounced uh-nak-ruh-nis-tik)  adjective

Definition

from the noun anachronism.

Anachronism  (pronounced uh-nak-ruh-niz-um)  =  1. something that is out of its proper or chronological order.  2. a person or thing that is inconsistent or disharmonious with the present because it belongs to a former age; something so outmoded as to attract attention.

Main Example

• The piracy that is prevalent in the waters off Indonesia does not make news here in the U.S. So, until recently, the word "pirates" usually reminded most of us Americans of some long-ago predators, such as the Barbary Pirates who operated off the North African coast from the 11th through the 18th centuries. The last time somebody was tried in a U.S. court on charges of piracy was over 120 years ago. Consequently, the pirate threat off the coast of Somalia that has been gracing our news headlines for the past several weeks seems to be such an anachronism, as if we were caught in a time warp.

Workplace Examples

• At tomorrow's orientation for new employees, if anyone sneers at our uncommon workplace rules and describes them as being anachronistic and belonging to the horse-and-buggy era, just point out that we are No. 1 in the industry because of those rules!
• Michael is a walking anachronism. He wears these stiff three-piece suits when hardly anyone else even wears a jacket or tie; he still prefers corresponding by memos and handwritten notes even though the rest of us only use emails and the occasional Post-it Note; and he uses WordPerfect, which we all abandoned more than a decade ago!

Other Examples

• somebody whose thinking about such matters as truth, morality, and altruism is almost anachronistic and out of sync with our times
• Kansas Board of Education's 1999 move to remove the teaching of evolution from the state's science curriculum--a decision that was later rescinded by a new board--criticized by many as anachronistic
• the late Jesse Helms, the controversial U.S. senator from North Carolina, who was praised by some for his unambiguous and consistent stands, and criticized by others for being an anachronism because, after 30 years in Congress, he still fervently believed in the "Old South" values on matters such as civil rights, segregation, and the Confederate flag
• the anachronistic look of Havana's streets because all the cars are of 1950s vintage; the Chrysler PT Cruiser proving popular partly because of its anachronistic external styling, being identical to body designs from the 1930s and '40s
• even many devout Muslims describing the Taliban as an utter anachronism because they forbid education for girls and do not permit women to work

© 2009 V.J. Singal
No part of this may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author.