Word.ws English Dictionary

old

/əʊld/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/əwld/

old adjective: of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.

Adjective

old (comparative older or elder, superlative oldest or eldest or (US, dialectal) oldermost)

  1. Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
    • an old abandoned building
    • an old friend
    1. Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
      • a wrinkled old man
    2. Of a perishable item, having existed for most of, or more than, its shelf life.
      • an old loaf of bread
    3. Of a species or language, belonging to a lineage that is distantly related to others.
      • the ginkgo is one of the oldest living trees
      • Basque is the oldest language in Europe
  2. Having been used and thus no longer new or unused.
    • I find that an old toothbrush is good to clean the keyboard with.
  3. Having existed or lived for the specified time.
    • How old are they? She’s five years old and he's seven. We also have a young teen and a two-year-old child.
    • My great-grandfather lived to be a hundred and one years old.
    Synonyms:
    aged, of age
  4. Former, previous.
    • My new car is not as good as my old one. a school reunion for Old Etonians
    • The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    erstwhile
  5. That is no longer in existence.
    • The footpath follows the route of an old railway line.
  6. Obsolete; out-of-date.
    • That is the old way of doing things; now we do it this way.
  7. Familiar.
    • When he got drunk and quarrelsome they just gave him the old heave-ho.
    • She always makes the same old excuses.
  8. (UK) Being a graduate or alumnus of a school, especially a public school.
  9. Tiresome after prolonged repetition.
    • Rik: But even great shtick can get old real fast: the dreaded Saturday Night Live syndrome.
      Jim: Randomness can help - many Living Books have characters that do different things each time you click on them.1995, MacUser, volume 11, MacUser Publications, page 147
    • John and I built a small stone house on the head of “Bonetta” Canyon and had a hog killing time all by ourselves. Hunting was our delight at first, until it became old.2000, Charles A. Siringo, A Texas Cowboy: or, Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony, Penguin, →ISBN, page 100
  10. Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
    Synonyms:
    antique
  11. A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive, and combined with another adjective.
    • We're having a good old time.
    • My next car will be a big old SUV.
    Synonyms:
    ol'
  12. (informal) Indicating affection and familiarity.
    • Finally, when they were all done slobbering around, old Sally introduced us.1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 165
  13. Designed for a mature audience; unsuitable for children below a certain age.
    • Monsieur's story is too old for our Juvenile Magazine.1868, Oliver Optic's Magazine: Our Boys and Girls ..., page 431
    • The text is too old for toddlers, but the colorful photographs are large enough and appropriate for them.1998, Rita Schrank, Science, Math, and Nutrition for Toddlers: Setting the Stage for Serendipity
  14. (obsolete) Excessive, abundant.
    • URSULA: Madam, you must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home: it is proved, my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused;1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

Noun (1)

old (countable and uncountable, plural olds)

  1. (invariable, plural, plural-only) People who are old; old beings; the older generation, taken as a group.
    • A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.
  2. (slang) A person older than oneself, especially an adult in relation to a teenager.
    • Near-synonyms: geezer, oldie, oldster; see also Thesaurus:old person
    • I'm not letting an old wreck my good time today.
  3. (slang, most often plural) One's parents.
    • I had to sneak out to meet my girlfriend and tell the olds I was going to the library.
  4. (Australia, uncountable) A typically dark-coloured lager brewed by the traditional top-fermentation method.
    • We crossed to the pub on the corner of Carlisle Street and I ordered two schooners of old for him and one of light for me.2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 117
    Antonyms:
    new

Proper noun (1) capitalized: OLD

OLD

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Oxford Latin Dictionary.

Noun (2) capitalized: OLD

OLD (uncountable)

  1. (Internet, abbreviation) Abbreviation of online dating.
  2. (abbreviation) Abbreviation of obsessive love disorder

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Old

Old (countable and uncountable, plural Olds)

  1. A surname.
  2. A village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire district, Northamptonshire, England, previously in Daventry district (OS grid ref SP7873).

old meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

old in Hindi

of an object, concept, etc: having existed for a relatively long period of time
पुराना purānā
of a living being: having lived for relatively many years
बूढ़ा būṛhā

old in Tamil

of an object, concept, etc: having existed for a relatively long period of time
பழைய paḻaiya

old in Marathi

of an object, concept, etc: having existed for a relatively long period of time
जुना junā
of a living being: having lived for relatively many years
म्हातारा mhātārā, वृद्ध vŕddha
former
पूर्व pūrva, आधीचा ādhīcā

old in Urdu

of an object, concept, etc: having existed for a relatively long period of time
پرانا purānā
of a living being: having lived for relatively many years
بوڑھا būṛhā
More languagesFewer languages
old in Bengali
পুরোনো purōnō, প্রবীণ probin
old in Telugu
పాత pāta, ముసలి musali, మునుపటి munupaṭi
old in Malayalam
പഴയ paḻaya, പഴയത് paḻayatŭ
old in Kannada
ಪುರಾತನ purātana
old in Punjabi
ਪੁਰਾਣਾ purāṇā, ਪੁਰਾਣੀ purāṇī, ਪੁਰਾਣੇ purāṇe, ਪੁਰਾਣੀਆਂ purāṇīā̃
old in Gujarati
જૂનું jūnũ, ઘરડું gharḍũ
old in Odia
ପୁରୁଣା puruṇā
old in Sanskrit
वृद्ध vṛddha
old in Sinhala
පැරණි pæraṇi, පරණ paraṇa, නාකි nāki, වයසක wayasaka
old in Assamese
পুৰণা purona, বুঢ়া burha, বুঢ়ী burhi
old in Nepali
पुरानो purāno
old in Pashto
زوړ zoṛ, زړه zaṛa
old in Tagalog
luma, matanda, dati, dating
old in Arabic
قَدِيم qadīm, قديم gadīm, كَبِير اَلسِّنّ kabīr as-sinn, مُسِنّ musinn
old in Malay
lama, tua, bekas
old in Indonesian
lama, tua
old in Persian
قدیمی qadimi, دیرین dirin, کهن kohan, کهنه kohne
old in Thai
เก่า gào, แก่ gɛ̀ɛ, ก่อน gɔ̀ɔn
old in Vietnamese
cũ, già, tuổi, cựu
old in Myanmar
ဟောင်း haung:, အို ui
Kashmiri
ؤۂر vạhạr

Examples of old in a sentence

  • The day was only a few hours old.
  • Your constant pestering is getting old.
  • My wife makes the best little old apple pie in Texas.
  • Look at Murphy playing with newest old favorite toy; he loves it!
  • I'm not letting any olds wreck my good time today.
  • They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

All 40 example sentences with old

Synonyms of old

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of old

Forms of old

Adjective
comparativeolder
comparativeelder
superlativeoldest
superlativeeldest
alternative pronunciation-spellingowld
alternative Geordieaad
alternative Irelandoul
alternative Irelandoul'
alternative Irelandould
alternative formaud
alternative formaul
alternative formauld
alternative formwold
superlative US (dialectal)oldermost
alternative form (colloquial)ol
alternative form (colloquial)ol'
alternative form (colloquial)ole
alternative form (archaic)olde
Noun
pluralolds
Proper noun
pluralOlds

Plural of old: olds

Origin of old

Inherited from Middle English old, oold, from Old English ald, eald (“old, aged, ancient, antique, primeval”), from Proto-West Germanic *ald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), originally a participle form, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós (“grown, tall, big”). Cognates Cognate with Scots aald, auld (“old”), Yola yola, yolaw, yold, yole (“old”), North Frisian ool, ual, uuil, uul, üülj (“old”), Saterland Frisian oold (“old”), West Frisian âld (“old”), Alemannic German altu, oalt, oalts, olt, àltà (“old”), Bavarian oid (“old”), Central Franconian alt, aod, auw, oot (“old”), Cimbrian and German alt (“old”), Dutch oud (“old”), German Low German old, oolt (“old”), Luxembourgish al (“old”), Mòcheno òlt (“old”), Vilamovian aołd (“old”), Yiddish אַלט (alt, “old”), Danish ældre (“elderly”), Faroese eldri (“elder, older”), Icelandic aldinn (“old”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk eldre (“elderly”), Swedish äldre (“elderly”), Crimean Gothic alt (“old”), Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌸𐌴𐌹𐍃 (alþeis, “old”), Latin altus (“high, tall, grown big, lofty”). Related to eld.

* In Northamptonshire, recorded as Walda in 1086 (DB), becoming Wolde in the 14th century, and later Old. From Old English or Old Saxon wald.

Words formed from old

Phrases with old

179 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with old

30 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about old

What does old mean?
Old means of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
What is old in Hindi?
Old in Hindi is पुराना (purānā), बूढ़ा (būṛhā). See Old meaning in Hindi.
How do you use old in a sentence?
The day was only a few hours old.
What part of speech is old?
Old can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce old?
Old is pronounced /əʊld/ (UK).

Words near old in the dictionary

  1. Olbers' paradox
  2. Olbia
  3. OLC
  4. Olcha
  5. Olchi
  6. old
  7. Old Aberdeen
  8. Old Adam
  9. Old Adaminaby
  10. old age
  11. old age home

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: old (page history and authors); OLD (page history and authors); Old (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: En-uk-old.ogg, en-us-old.ogg.

Cite this entry: “old.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/old. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.