distant past
Eons ago, roughly
The distant past is a time long ago, far removed from the present.
It suggests centuries or millennia rather than decades: Humans domesticated dogs in the distant past.
The phrase emphasizes temporal remoteness, often evoking periods beyond living memory or recorded history.
Compare with recent past or near future.
- time immemorialBeyond memory's reach
- dawn of timeThe absolute beginning
- mists of timeMetaphor for forgotten history
- Bronze AgeEarly metalworking civilization period
- ancient historyStudy of earliest civilizations
Iron Age · prehistoric era · cave · ancestral heritage · creation myths · long ago · classical antiquity · ancient times · fossils · collective memory · primordial · deep time · oral tradition · days of yore · old as the hills · folklore · ancient rituals · once upon a time
distant pastpresent
Gift or current moment
now · today · the here and now · modern times · contemporary era
distant pastdistant future
Time very far ahead
far future · posterity · time to come · futurity · tomorrow
past, distance, distant, passing, passed, distances, pasts, distantly