Antiquated means outdated or old-fashioned to the point of being no longer useful or appropriate. When something is antiquated, it belongs to an earlier time and has been surpassed by better, more modern alternatives.

An antiquated law might require horse-drawn carriages to have lanterns at night, a rule that made sense 150 years ago but is irrelevant today. Antiquated technology, like floppy disks or dial-up internet, once worked fine but now seems impossibly slow and clumsy compared to what we have. Schools sometimes discover antiquated rules in their handbooks, like dress codes that ban clothing styles no one has worn in decades.

The word carries a sense that something hasn't just aged, it has become impractical or even a bit ridiculous. Your grandmother's vintage record player might be old but charming; an antiquated heating system that barely works and costs a fortune to run is a problem waiting to be fixed.

Notice that antiquated differs from antique, which describes old objects that have value because of their age and quality. An antique grandfather clock is treasured; an antiquated filing system that requires three people to find one document needs to be replaced.