fogey
/ˈfəʊɡi/US/ˈfoʊɡi/
fogey noun: a dull person (especially an old man) who is behind the times, holding antiquated, over-conservative views.
Noun (1)
fogey (plural fogies or fogeys)
- A dull person (especially an old man) who is behind the times, holding antiquated, over-conservative views.
- [T]he old fogies, as you call them, at Bays’s, are some of the first gentlemen in England, of whom you youngsters had best learn a little manners, and a little breeding, and a little modesty.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 45, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published...
- We attribute the use of the word Fogey, by so accomplished a scholar as Mr. Beecher, to the influence of Hoosierism, acquired during a long residence in Indiana—and as used by him, applied to human beings, “old Fogeys” in a serious discourse, meaning by inference, a class of independent old...1852 August, “Editor’s Table”, in The Opal, volume II, number 8, Utica, New York, United States, page 221
- Synonyms:
- old fogey
Noun (2) capitalized: Fogey
Fogey (plural Fogeys)
- Alternative form of fogey.
Examples of fogey in a sentence
- We attribute the use of the word Fogey, by so accomplished a scholar as Mr.1852 August, “Editor’s Table”, in The Opal, volume II, number 8, Utica, New York, United States, page 221:
- "You've heard of him, of course?" "I'm rather an old fogey, as Caroline tells me," I said, "but I have just heard of him."1926, Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd:
Synonyms of fogey
Forms of fogey
| plural | fogies |
|---|---|
| plural | fogeys |
| alternative form | Fogey |
| alternative form | fogy |
| alternative form | fogie |
| plural | Fogeys |
Origin of fogey
Borrowed from Scots foggie, fogie (noun), perhaps derived from Scots foggie (“covered with moss or lichen; mossy", hence "old, antiquated, decrepit”, adjective), from Scots fog (“moss; lichen”), equivalent to fog (“moss”) + -y. Further origin uncertain. More at fog.
Words formed from fogey
Questions about fogey
- What does fogey mean?
- Fogey means a dull person (especially an old man) who is behind the times, holding antiquated, over-conservative views.
- How do you use fogey in a sentence?
- We attribute the use of the word Fogey, by so accomplished a scholar as Mr.
- What part of speech is fogey?
- Fogey is a noun.
- How do you pronounce fogey?
- Fogey is pronounced /ˈfoʊɡi/ (US).
- What is the plural of fogey?
- The plural of fogey is fogies.
Words near fogey in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fogey (page history and authors); Fogey (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-fogey.wav.
Cite this entry: “fogey.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fogey. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.