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

• 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。
• 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。
• An erstwhile US policy maker once asked China to be a 'responsible stakeholder'.
  某位美国前高级官员曾经要求中国成为一个‘负责任的利益攸关方’。
• 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。
• Imposing one-sided adjustment on erstwhile debtors will not work.
  让昔日债务人单方面调整不会有多大效果。
• Both are in better shape than their erstwhile rivals.
  他们的情况比以前的竞争对手都要好。
• 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。
• The value of the foreign assets of core countries would fall, their new currencies would soar relative to erstwhile partners and their economies shrink.
  核心国家国外资产的价值将会下滑，它们的新本币相对昔日伙伴国新本币的汇率将会飙升，它们的经济将会萎缩。
• 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。
• His erstwhile leftwing coalition allies and, it is widely believed, the more populist impulses of senior Congress politicians including Mrs Gandhi, have curbed his push for financial sector reforms.
  他从前的左翼同盟政党、以及（人们普遍认为）包括索尼娅甘地在内的国大党高层更加民粹主义的倾向，都遏制了辛格推行金融业改革的努力。