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

• 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。
• 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。
• He praised the prime minister for bringing Russia out of the chaos of the Boris Yeltsin years, taking a dig at his erstwhile political opponent.
  相反，他称赞普京带领俄罗斯走出了鲍里斯叶利钦（BorisYeltsin）年代的混乱，借机讽刺了一下昔日的政治对手。
• 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。
• 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。
• Washington's crime was to assume that the Yalta agreement had fallen along with the Berlin Wall, and that the peoples and nations of the erstwhile Soviet empire should thus be free to make their own choices.
  美国政府的错误在于想当然地认为雅尔塔协定（YaltaAgreement）也伴随着柏林墙的倒塌而失效，因此昔日臣服于苏联帝国的民族和国家应该可以自由选择。
• 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。
• 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。
• 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。