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

• 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。
• 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。
• Continental Europeans want tighter constraints on the erstwhile titans of finance.
  欧洲大陆希望对昔日的金融巨擘严加约束。
• 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。
• 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。
• Of course, this approach assumes that you do have other erstwhile bosses and colleagues who would be happy to give you a glowing recommendation.
  当然，这种方法有一个假设的前提：你得有其他前上司和同事愿意热情洋溢地推荐你。
• If policymakers leave commodities trading unattended, this erstwhile backwater could one day become a sea of economic troubles.
  如果政策制定者们对大宗商品交易放任不管，这一昔日的回水可能有朝一日会变成经济的麻烦之海。
• 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。
• Tony Blair his friend and erstwhile boss, who takes the hot seat soon will have bee watching n anxiously.
  作为他的朋友和过去的老板托尼布莱尔（TonyBlair），不久将如坐针毡，并将一直焦急地关注此事。
• By contrast, Britain and its erstwhile EU partners would have to decide quickly how people on the wrong side of newly erected barriers to the free movement of labour should be treated.
  相比之下，英国与之前的欧盟伙伴必须迅速作出决定，为身处因劳动力自由流动而新竖立起来的壁垒错误一边的人们应当得到怎样的待遇。