throwback

IPA/ˈθrəʊbæk/
KK[θrˈobˌæk]IPA/ˈθrəʊbæk/

throwback — noun

  • throwbacksingular
  • throwbacksplural

1. someone or something that makes people think of an earlier period because its st

1.名詞B2
釋義

someone or something that makes people think of an earlier period because its style or behavior feels old-fashioned.

例句

The diner with red stools feels like a throwback to the 1950s.

pattern: throwback to + earlier time

Nala's cassette player is a throwback beside everyone else's phones.

contrast: old device beside modern phones

同義詞
  • holdover

    stresses something that has remained from an earlier period, not just something with an old-style feel

  • relic

    often suggests an actual surviving old object, sometimes with a stronger sense of age

反義詞
  • innovation

    something clearly new rather than shaped by an earlier style

文法句型

a throwback to + earlier time

look like a throwback

be a throwback

用法筆記

Often followed by to when naming the earlier time, style, or habit it resembles. This sense is commonly playful or approving, not always critical.

常見錯誤

❌This cafe is a throwback of the 1980s.
✅This cafe is a throwback to the 1980s.
💡English usually uses 'to' after throwback when you name the earlier period.

2. the return of a feature from a much earlier stage, especially one that appears a

2.名詞C2
釋義

the return of a feature from a much earlier stage, especially one that appears again in a living thing after seeming to disappear.

例句

The extra toe on the calf was described as a throwback.

pattern: describe something as a throwback

Scientists called the small wings a throwback to an older form.

pattern: throwback to + earlier form

同義詞
  • atavism

    the more technical scientific term for the same idea

  • reversion

    broader formal word for going back to an earlier state

文法句型

a throwback to + earlier form

describe something as a throwback

show a throwback

用法筆記

Mainly used in biology, medicine, and related formal writing. Distinguish it from sense 1, which is about an old-fashioned style rather than an ancestral feature returning.