hitherto
adverb
hith·er·to
ˈhi-t͟hər-ˌtü 
ˌhi-t͟hər-ˈtü
: up to this or that time
reveals some hitherto unknown facts about her life
Examples of hitherto in a Sentence
at the talent show Kyle revealed his hitherto unknown gift for doing impressions
Recent Examples on the Web
The technique also identified a further 2,000 or so candidate extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, around half of which were hitherto undetected.
—
Robert Lea, Space.com, 25 Mar. 2026
Having heard of the fruitful researches carried on by you last year on the hitherto little understood properties of water surfaces.
—Mariel Carr, Scientific American, 20 Mar. 2026
Many of China’s hitherto top names in AI—including ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, Xiaomi cofounder Lin Bin, and Alibaba CTO Wang Jian—cut their teeth at the Microsoft Research Asia (MRSA) lab in Beijing.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 27 Jan. 2026
Maybe this reveals some sort of hitherto undiagnosed neurodivergence, but asymmetric designs like this annoy me.
—Nick Miller, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2026
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Robert Lea, Space.com, 25 Mar. 2026
Having heard of the fruitful researches carried on by you last year on the hitherto little understood properties of water surfaces.
—Mariel Carr, Scientific American, 20 Mar. 2026
Many of China’s hitherto top names in AI—including ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming, Xiaomi cofounder Lin Bin, and Alibaba CTO Wang Jian—cut their teeth at the Microsoft Research Asia (MRSA) lab in Beijing.
—Charlie Campbell, Time, 27 Jan. 2026
Maybe this reveals some sort of hitherto undiagnosed neurodivergence, but asymmetric designs like this annoy me.
—Nick Miller, New York Times, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for hitherto
Cite this Entry
“Hitherto.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hitherto. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hitherto
adverb
hith·er·to
ˈhit͟h-ər-ˌtü
: up to this time
hitherto unknown facts
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