ålderdomligt

Ålderdomligt is a Swedish adjective meaning old-fashioned or archaic, particularly in reference to language, customs, objects, or styles from an earlier period. The term derives from ålderdom (old age, aging) and the suffix -lig, which denotes having a certain quality. The neuter singular form ålderdomligt is used before neuter nouns, as in ett ålderdomligt språk. The common gender form is ålderdomlig, as in en ålderdomlig vana.

In usage, ålderdomligt can convey a deliberately antiquarian mood in literature or historical descriptions. It often describes language or practices that originate in the past and may carry a neutral or evaluative tone depending on context. The word is somewhat formal or literary and is more common in written Swedish than in casual speech. For everyday purposes, words like gammaldags or gammaldags uttryck are more typical when something feels out of date, whereas ålderdomligt emphasizes historical antiquity or a stylistic aim to evoke that period.

Examples include text that uses ålderdomligt language to recreate a medieval atmosphere, or descriptions of documents whose spelling and phrasing are ålderdomligt by modern standards. The term works across domains such as literature, linguistics, and cultural history to mark remnants of older ways of speaking, thinking, or making.