live in the past
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Focus on past events or memories rather than the present
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Chú tâm vào sự kiện hoặc ký ức quá khứ hơn là hiện tại
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: reside in a previous time
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He can't move on because he lives in the past
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “live in the past” mean?
Focus on past events or memories rather than the present Literally: reside in a previous time
Is “live in the past” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.