formerly
adverb
for·mer·ly
ˈfȯr-mər-lē 
ˈfȯr-mə-
1
: at an earlier time : previously
2
obsolete
: just before
Examples of formerly in a Sentence
He was formerly a congressman.
the newspaper formerly known as “The Newsprint”
Recent Examples on the Web
The next day, 23-year-old Wayne Lucas was taken into custody in Virginia in connection with the attack, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a May 28 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
—
Natalie Demaree, Miami Herald, 29 May 2025
What To Know Damien Symon, an open-source intelligence expert, posted a satellite image on X (formerly Twitter) showing the Liaoning underway in the Philippine Sea, approximately 430 nautical miles (494 miles) southeast of Taiwan, accompanied by two escorting ships on Wednesday.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025
Anurag Rana and Andrew Girard, analysts Cloud Software Group, formerly known as Citrix Systems Inc., had been interested in acquiring Informatica, Bloomberg News reported.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 28 May 2025
The climber was stuck about 75 feet up on the rocks in the Garden of the Gods park, the Colorado Springs Fire Department said in a May 26 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
—Brooke Baitinger, Sacbee.com, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for formerly
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Natalie Demaree, Miami Herald, 29 May 2025
What To Know Damien Symon, an open-source intelligence expert, posted a satellite image on X (formerly Twitter) showing the Liaoning underway in the Philippine Sea, approximately 430 nautical miles (494 miles) southeast of Taiwan, accompanied by two escorting ships on Wednesday.
—Ryan Chan, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 May 2025
Anurag Rana and Andrew Girard, analysts Cloud Software Group, formerly known as Citrix Systems Inc., had been interested in acquiring Informatica, Bloomberg News reported.
—Bloomberg, Mercury News, 28 May 2025
The climber was stuck about 75 feet up on the rocks in the Garden of the Gods park, the Colorado Springs Fire Department said in a May 26 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
—Brooke Baitinger, Sacbee.com, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for formerly
Cite this Entry
“Formerly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/formerly. Accessed 1 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
formerly
adverb
for·mer·ly
ˈfȯr-mər-lē
: at an earlier time : previously
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share