The meaning of THROWBACK is one that is suggestive of or suited to an earlier time or style. How to use throwback in a sentence. It is the acts of barbarity, a throwback from the past; it is the violence that we have lived with for so long.

Understanding the Context

1. See atavism. 2. One that has characteristics of an earlier time: a song that is a throwback to the big-band era.

Key Insights

Definition of throwback noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more. WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026 throw back /ˈθroʊˌbæk/ n. [countable] an act of throwing back. an act of going back to an earlier time or mode of behavior now out of date: his gracious language—a throwback to the 19th century.

Final Thoughts

Under the throwback rule, sales into a state where the taxpayer is not taxable are “thrown back” from the destination state to the origin state by adding the nontaxable sales to the numerator in the apportionment factor. A return to an older way of doing something—or an old characteristic that reappears—is a throwback. If you like dressing in bell bottoms and leisure suits, your style is a throwback to the 1970s. There are six meanings listed in OED's entry for the word throwback, one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.