Word.ws English Dictionary

old fogey

old fogey noun: an old and overly conservative person.

Noun

old fogey (plural old fogies)

  1. (idiomatic) An old and overly conservative person.
    • "No; the Athletic. Tell you: Course they're always asking me to join the Union, but I always say, 'No, sir! Nothing doing!' I don't mind the expense but I can't stand all the old fogies."1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XXVIII, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC

Synonyms of old fogey

20 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of old fogey

pluralold fogies
alternative formold fogy

Origin of old fogey

In 1811, an Old Fogey was a nickname for an invalid, wounded soldier; derived from the French fougueux (“fierce or fiery”). Alternatively, compare fogey.

Questions about old fogey

What does old fogey mean?
Old fogey means an old and overly conservative person.
What part of speech is old fogey?
Old fogey is a noun.
What is the plural of old fogey?
The plural of old fogey is old fogies.

Words near old fogey in the dictionary

  1. old finger
  2. old fingers
  3. Old Firm
  4. old flame
  5. old flames
  6. old fogey
  7. old fogies
  8. old fogy
  9. old folks
  10. old folks home
  11. old folks homes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: old 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: En-au-old fogey.ogg.

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