English

Noun

throwback ‎(plural throwbacks)

1. A reversion to an earlier stage of development.
   • 1986, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Radio Address - 17 May 1986:

     You see, the House of Representatives recently passed a military budget that is wholly inadequate, a throwback to the seventies, a budget that is a breach of faith with our Armed Forces and our allies and would send exactly the wrong signal to the Soviets and their satellites.

2. (pejorative) A person considered to be primitive, uncivilized and mentally deficient.
3. An organism that has characteristics of a more primitive form.
4. An atavism.
   • 1901, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Chapter 13:

     "But this is marvellous. It might be his portrait."
     "Yes, it is an interesting instance of a throwback, which appears to be both physical and spiritual. A study of family portraits is enough to convert a man to the doctrine of reincarnation. The fellow is a Baskerville—that is evident."

5. A person similar to an ancestor, or something new similar to what already existed.

See also

• throw back

References

• throwback on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Translations