Throwback

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈθrəʊ.bæk/
• US IPA: /ˈθroÊŠ.bæk/

Full definition of throwback

Noun

1. a reversion to an earlier stage of development
• 1986, Ronald Reagan, S: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. an organism that has characteristics of a more primitive form
3. atavism
• 1901, Arthur Conan Doyle, S:The Hound of the Baskervilles, "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."

4. a person similar to an ancestor, or something new similar to what already existed

Synonyms

• (of a previous age) anachronism