prerevolutionary

adjective

pre·​rev·​o·​lu·​tion·​ary ˌprē-ˌre-və-ˈlü-shə-ˌner-ē How to pronounce prerevolutionary (audio)
variants or pre-revolutionary
: of, relating to, or being a time before a revolution
prerevolutionary society
in prerevolutionary France
the prerevolutionary period/era
The pre-revolutionary writings of Lenin and Stalin are filled with discussions of the Nationality Question.Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Examples of prerevolutionary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Or, rather, there were individual aristocrats, merchants, and laborers choosing different sides in these prerevolutionary moments. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024 Its plot concerns a large cast of characters undergoing radical metamorphoses: prerevolutionary drunkards become postrevolutionary zealots, simple peasants become shrewd military commanders, and MEK fighters become the regime’s number one enemy. Amir Ahmadi Arian, Harper's Magazine, 16 Aug. 2023 The scale models of ships and planes that children would build in youth centers emphasized the historical continuity of Russian and Soviet technological breakthroughs, implicitly undermining the official narrative of the Bolshevik Revolution’s radical break from the prerevolutionary era. Alexey Golubev, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2021 Fans brought flags stripped of the national emblem, or versions bearing the insignia of prerevolutionary Iran, to games. Rory Smith, New York Times, 29 Nov. 2022 The year began with Israel’s first stable government in years, Iran in a prerevolutionary situation, and a stable Iraq. Matthew Continetti, National Review, 1 Apr. 2023 But Wilder points out that in Hamilton’s student days at King’s College (Columbia’s prerevolutionary name), his fees were paid by a merchant to whom he had been apprenticed on the island of Saint Croix and who got rich by supplying Caribbean plantations with mules, flour, and slaves. Andrew Delbanco, The New York Review of Books, 8 June 2022 More important, the sources indicate a drastic decline in arrivals during the postrevolutionary decades compared to prerevolutionary America. Sean Wilentz, The New York Review of Books, 13 Jan. 2022 The center, once a picturesque medley of prerevolutionary architecture and early 20th-century brick buildings, has been bereft of people apart from a few testing their luck in the streets to buy provisions or take care of relatives. Thomas Grove, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of prerevolutionary was in 1839

Dictionary Entries Near prerevolutionary

Cite this Entry

“Prerevolutionary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prerevolutionary. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!