pastness

noun

past·​ness ˈpas(t)-nəs How to pronounce pastness (audio)
1
: the quality or state of being past
2
: the subjective quality of something being remembered rather than immediately experienced
almost any popular record … is apt to be tinged with pastnessRoy McMullen

Examples of pastness 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.
This novel, hovering somewhere between the older epistolary structure and pure dramatic monologue—between correspondence and a playscript—becomes magically liberated from the more burdensome narrative machinery, that wheezing apparatus of persuasion and pastness. James Wood, The New Yorker, 1 June 2020 The extraordinary pastness of our story results from its having taken place before a certain turning point, on the far side of a rift that has cut deeply through our lives and our consciousness. David Treuer, The New York Review of Books, 6 July 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1829, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pastness was in 1829

Dictionary Entries Near pastness

Cite this Entry

“Pastness.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pastness. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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