1
Core quality
No longer current, useful, or fashionable; outdated.
Example
Digital sensors replaced the outmoded mechanical system.
outmoded
/ˌaʊtˈməʊdɪd/ · owt-MOH-didadjective
No longer current, useful, or fashionable; outdated.
Use outmoded to express this relationship precisely: no longer current, useful, or fashionable; outdated.
What outmoded Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Attributive or predicative use
Use this adjective before a suitable noun or after a linking verb such as be or seem.
Example
The study challenges an outmoded assumption about language learning.
3
Analytical distinction
Choose it when this exact descriptive quality matters; a related word may overlap without conveying the same trait.
Example
Museums abandoned the outmoded classification after new evidence emerged.
Use outmoded Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
Digital sensors replaced the outmoded mechanical system.
The study challenges an outmoded assumption about language learning.
Museums abandoned the outmoded classification after new evidence emerged.
Precision Matters
Outmoded overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
outmoded
vs.Means no longer current, useful, or fashionable; outdated.
supplant
Means to replace or supersede something previously established.
outmoded
vs.Means no longer current, useful, or fashionable; outdated.
moribund
Means approaching death or becoming inactive, obsolete, or defunct.
outmoded
vs.Means no longer current, useful, or fashionable; outdated.
rudimentary
Means basic or elementary.
outmoded
vs.Means no longer current, useful, or fashionable; outdated.
innovative
Means introducing or using new ideas, methods, or materials.
Test outmoded in Context
The rule belongs to an earlier period and no longer suits current conditions.
1
The regulation was written for telegraph networks and now seems hopelessly ___.