Use the adverb hitherto when you're describing a state or circumstance that existed up until now. If you find a hitherto undiscovered hidden tunnel in your cellar, you're the first to discover it.
How do you use the word hitherto?
Hitherto in a Sentence ?
- Hitherto Jim got married and became a devoted spouse, his greatest pleasure had been picking up women.
- Before John learned to fly an airplane, he had hitherto been afraid of heights.
- Hitherto Carmelo was thought a suspect in his wife's murder and forbidden to leave town.
Is it OK to use hitherto?
8 Answers. Merriam-Webster Unabridged does not flag hitherto as "archaic." Macmillan does mark hitherto as "very formal" but it's by no means outdated. Whoever marked you down for using an "archaic" word is wrong (unless perhaps you were using hitherto in an informal context).
