erstwhile

英 [ˈɜːstwaɪl]

美 [ˈɜːrstwaɪl]

adj.  以前的; 先前的; 过去的; 往昔的

GRE

Collins.1 / BNC.14300 / COCA.18074

牛津词典

adj.

• 以前的；先前的；过去的；往昔的
  former; that until recently was the type of person or thing described but is not any more
  1. an erstwhile opponent
     以前的对手
  2. His erstwhile friends turned against him.
     他先前的朋友转而与他作对。

柯林斯词典

• ADJ 以往的;往昔的
  You useerstwhileto describe someone that used to be the type of person indicated, but no longer is.
  1. Erstwhile workers may have become managers...
     过去的工人可能已经成了经理。
  2. He fled to America with Phyllis Burton, an erstwhile friend of his wife's.
     他和他妻子以前的一个朋友菲莉丝·伯顿一起逃往美国。

英英释义

adv

• at a previous time
  1. at one time he loved her
  2. her erstwhile writing
  3. she was a dancer once
  Synonym:onceformerlyat one timeerst

双语例句

• This, in turn, will require achieving three things: avoiding a headlong collapse in demand; restructuring the balance sheets of financial institutions and overindebted households; and rebalancing global demand away from erstwhile deficit countries, towards habitual creditor countries.
  这进而要求做到三件事：避免需求直线暴跌；对金融机构和负债过多家庭的资产负债表进行重组；以及调整全球需求平衡，将需求从此前的贸易赤字国家转至传统上的债权国。
• Before the book was published I had to rewrite it because in the meantime, the computer Deep Blue beat the erstwhile human world champion, Gary Kasparov.
  在我的书出版之前，我不得不重写，因为与此同时，计算机”深蓝“击败了昔日人类世界冠军加里卡斯帕罗夫。
• As France's erstwhile first lady flew to India yesterday on a humanitarian assignment, friends said she was expecting to thrash out a financial settlement with the head of state upon her return.
  这位法国的前第一夫人昨日飞往印度进行人道主义访问，她的朋友透露她一回来就要向法国总统索要分手费。
• Erstwhile workers may have become managers
  过去的工人可能已经成了经理。
• Be that as it may, nothing will more swiftly unite two previous foes in a common front if they are threatened by a potential enemy perceived to be more dangerous than their erstwhile opponent.
  能够迅速使敌对双方连成一气的，是当双方都感受到一个潜在敌人的威胁，而这个敌人又比它们其中任何一方更具危险性。
• Like some other erstwhile true believers, he became one of most cogent critics of his former faith.
  如同昔日的某些真正信徒一样，他也成为其原有信仰最有力的批判者之一。
• My erstwhile publisher asked whether I would acquiesce to omitting some "sensitive material" and changing some wording.
  我从前的出版商问我是否同意删除一些“敏感材料”和改变一些措词。
• Yet, under the pressure of the crisis itself, many erstwhile grasshopper colonies are being forced to become more ant-like.
  然而，由于危机本身的压力，许多昔日的蚱蜢窝正被迫变得更像蚂蚁。
• Its erstwhile parent was quick to follow China Merchants in successfully pushing for a new licence based on its history, and managed to obtain approvals for five provinces.
  它的前任母公司迅速效仿了中国商会，根据中国商会的的历史奋力为自己争取了一个新的执照，并成功取得了在五个省份的经营许可。
• It's easy to sympathise: the erstwhile masters of the universe seem to have forgotten the meaning of both moral and hazard.
  这很容易让人同情：过去的宇宙主宰者（mastersoftheuniverse）们似乎忘记了道德和风险的涵义。