as in fogy
a person or thing that is similar to someone or something from the past or that is suited to an earlier time
—usually + to
She's a throwback to the actresses of the 1950s. The band's music is a throwback to the 1980s.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of throwback
Chad Graff, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Last year’s boxing boot trend set the stage for a more prim and polished throwback in 2026.
—Shelby Ying Hyde, Refinery29, 4 Feb. 2026
Newer stars such as Olivia Dean also favor throwback sounds, which helps.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 4 Feb. 2026
Through throwback posts, people have been traveling back to the year when dog and flower crown Snapchat filters, Instagram eyebrows, the mannequin challenge and the Chainsmokers were everywhere.
—Kailyn Brown, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for throwback
Noun
The basketball court at Walsh Jesuit is a domed throwback of an arena with tall wooden ceilings.
—Chad Graff, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2026
Last year’s boxing boot trend set the stage for a more prim and polished throwback in 2026.
—Shelby Ying Hyde, Refinery29, 4 Feb. 2026
Newer stars such as Olivia Dean also favor throwback sounds, which helps.
—The Week Us, TheWeek, 4 Feb. 2026
Through throwback posts, people have been traveling back to the year when dog and flower crown Snapchat filters, Instagram eyebrows, the mannequin challenge and the Chainsmokers were everywhere.
—Kailyn Brown, Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for throwback
Recent Examples of Synonyms for throwback
Noun
-
Old fogey-ish, ungrateful and stupid.—
Katie Hafner,
Scientific American,
10 Sep. 2025
-
These are people who know AI and have grown up with this stuff that these old fogies haven't.—
Alison Snyder,
Axios,
23 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Ukrainian officials said 150 Ukrainian servicemen and seven civilians returned from Russian captivity.—
DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS,
Arkansas Online,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Austin Reaves, who was playing in his second game after returning from a 19-game absence, scores 13 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter.—
Broderick Turner,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Fungi fossils preserved in the chert contained compounds from the breakdown of chitin and glucan, key structural molecules in fungi.—
Katie Hunt,
CNN Money,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Among the city’s oldest institutions and one of the largest natural history museums in the American West, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the place to see fantastical fossils and skeletons.—
Kathryn Romeyn,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Council members had long pledged to quell gang violence and improve life for Haiti but fell overwhelmingly short.—
EVENS SANON,
Arkansas Online,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Short video and artificial intelligence video generation company Kuaishou fell by 11% during the same time period.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Age mandates for trees worry some environmentalists Woodlands that are healthy, biodiverse and able to provide food and habitat for myriad species usually have a mix of tree types, from skinny saplings to looming old-timers.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
22 Jan. 2026
-
Most old-timers would tell you that Bill Snyder did more for Kansas State than anyone did anywhere in the history of goal posts.—
Kevin Sherrington,
Dallas Morning News,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The driver and bicyclist declined to be transported to the hospital, according to officials.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
6 Feb. 2026
-
The sheriff declined to answer several questions, including one from a reporter who asked if there was a ransom demanded.—
Adam Sabes , Michael Ruiz , Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Ken Blake Brea Sorry to see Jerry Neuheisel leave UCLA to join traitor and coaching has-been Chip Kelly at Northwestern.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Jan. 2026
-
All this success begs the legitimate question of how the once-struggling reality show for has-been celebrities reinvented itself and became a pop-cultural phenomenon that any public figure would be lucky to utilize as their re-introduction into the zeitgeist.—
McKinley Franklin,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Volume 1 about a troubled pregnant woman who accepts an invite to a dinner party which degenerates into a bloody and demented nightmare.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
28 Jan. 2026
-
But 16 did, including two found in the human dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra, a region of the brain that degenerates in Parkinson’s disease.—
Freda Kreier,
Hartford Courant,
14 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Throwback.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/throwback. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
