90 Words To Describe The Past

John Spacey, updated on April 10, 2024

Words to describe the past include various ways to describe time periods and impressions of the past. This can include descriptions of the past as it existed at the time and descriptions of the past as viewed from the present moment whereby it may feel distant, faded, nostalgic and ghostly. The following are words that can potentially be used to describe the past.

Age-old	Ancient
Antiquated	Archaic
Bittersweet	Bygone
Chaotic	Classical
Dazzling	Desolate
Discarded	Discolored
Distant past	Dreamy
Early days	Echoing
Edwardian	Evanescent
Evocative	Faded
Fading	Fearless
Fond	Forgotten
Fragmented	Ghostly
Glittering	Harkening
Haunting	Hazy
Heartfelt	Heartwrenching
Heroic	Historic
Historical	Legendary
Long ago	Longing
Lyrical	Majestic
Medieval	Melancholic
Memories	Middle Ages
Momentary	Monumental
Mournful	Mythical
Noble	Nostalgic
Obsolete	Old-fashioned
Opulent	Outdated
Painful	Poignant
Prehistoric	Primitive
Reflective	Regretful
Remnants	Reminiscent
Remote past	Renaissance
Resonant	Retro
Romantic	Saudade
Searing	Sentimental
Shadowy	Sorrowful
Sweet	Tattered
Tender	Time-honored
Touching	Traditional
Tragic	Transient
Triumphant	Tumultuous
Unstable	Vanishing
Victorian	Vintage
Warm	Wild
Wistful	Yearning

Saudade is a Portuguese word that is viewed as having no equivalent in English. It is described as a gentle sadness or love for things of the past or things that are absent.

Summary

Words to describe the past include descriptions of time periods, the character of your past and your feelings about it. This may evoke imagery that depicts the distance and inaccessibility of the past.