for‧mer 1 S2 W1 / fɔmə $ fɔrmər / 形容词 [仅用于名词前]
1 happening or existing before, but not now → present , previous :
the former Soviet Union
Their farm has been reduced to half its former size.
2 having a particular position in the past 同义词 ex- → present :
my former husband
former President Clinton
3 in former times/years in the past
4 somebody/sth’s former self what someone or something was like before they were changed by age, illness, trouble etc :
She seems more like her former self.
be a shadow/ghost of your former self (= be much less confident, healthy, energetic etc than you used to be )
The team’s a shadow of its former self.
THESAURUS
previous [仅用于名词前] used when talking about a person, thing, time etc before the one that you are talking about now : The car’s previous owner didn’t take very good care of it. | Please ignore my previous instructions. | The temperature is higher than in previous years.
last [仅用于名词前] used when talking about the one that you had just before now, or the one that existed just before now : The last apartment we lived in was much smaller than this one. | Ben’s last girlfriend was a teacher. | Beth broke up with her last boyfriend because he drank too much.
old [仅用于名词前] used when talking about people you knew or things you had in the past, or about things that existed in the past and have been replaced by newer things : I never liked my old boss. | I saw Phil with one of my old girlfriends. | The new stadium is much bigger than the old one. | He was my old maths teacher.
preceding [仅用于名词前] formal coming just before the time or thing you have just mentioned, or before the part of a book where you are now : There were fewer crimes compared to the preceding year. | The author dealt with this subject in the preceding chapters of the book. | In the preceding section of the poem, Whitman is talking about how important it is to live in the present.
former [仅用于名词前] formal used to describe someone or something that used to have a particular job or position but does not any more : her former husband | the former US President | Kyoto was the former capital of Japan.
ex-wife/boyfriend/soldier etc someone who used to be someone’s wife, used to be a soldier etc, but is not any more : Her dad’s an ex-policeman. | Lydia is still friends with her ex-husband.
the one before the person or thing that existed before the one you have just mentioned : I didn’t enjoy Spielberg’s last film but I thought the one before was all right. | Each year, the convention is a little larger than the one before.