Synonyms of vestige

vestige

noun

ˈve-stij 

1

as in relic

a tiny often physical indication of something lost or vanished

a few strange words carved on a tree were the only vestige of the lost colony of Roanoke

Synonyms & Similar Words

• relic
• trace
• remnant
• artifact
• echo
• shadow
• ghost
• reminder
• memento
• remembrance
• corpse
• rest
• remainder
• residual
• afterimage
• residue
• leftover
• aftertaste
• remain(s)
• hangover
• scrap
• leavings
• balance
• oddment
• dreg(s)

2

as in footstep

the mark or impression made by a foot

the fossilized vestige of a dinosaur that traversed that muddy landscape millions of years ago

Synonyms & Similar Words

• footstep
• footprint
• trace
• step
• footmark
• track
• hoofprint
• tread
• pug
• spoor

Synonym Chooser

How is the word vestige distinct from other similar nouns?

The words trace and track are common synonyms of vestige. While all three words mean "a perceptible sign made by something that has passed," vestige applies to a tangible reminder such as a fragment or remnant of what is past and gone.

boulders that are vestiges of the last ice age

When could trace be used to replace vestige?

In some situations, the words trace and vestige are roughly equivalent. However, trace may suggest any line, mark, or discernible effect.

the killer left no traces

Where would track be a reasonable alternative to vestige?

While the synonyms track and vestige are close in meaning, track implies a continuous line that can be followed.

the fossilized tracks of dinosaurs

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of vestige

Also, small professional theater companies had a different character back then, still bearing a vestige of the summer stock theater wave of the 1940s and ‘50s which also reinvigorated by the regional theater movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s. —Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 23 June 2025

Yet Powell remains an outlier — a vestige of that earlier period when Trump was still assembling his team and had not yet consolidated power over the GOP and the machinery of government. —Jesus Mesa, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 July 2025

Sale was the second-to-last remaining 2018 champion, and Devers was the last vestige of glory. —Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 20 June 2025

In 1905, as the vestiges of Victorian England gave way to an uncharted future, friends convened in a home in the Bloomsbury district of London to discuss art, philosophy, literature, politics, and love. —Jenny Noyce, JSTOR Daily, 14 May 2025

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