elderly
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Remove ads
Etymology
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɛldɚli/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɛldəli/
Audio (US): (file) - Hyphenation: eld‧er‧ly
Adjective
elderly (comparative more elderly, superlative most elderly)
- old; having lived for relatively many years.
- Synonyms: elder, old; see also Thesaurus:elderly
- Of an object, being old-fashioned or frail due to aging.
- Synonyms: dated, outworn, decrepit, timeworn; see also Thesaurus:obsolete, Thesaurus:deteriorated
- 1988, Anne Tyler, chapter 1, in Breathing Lessons:
- The car was parked toward the rear of the shop, an elderly gray-blue Dodge. It looked better than it had in years.
Usage notes
Because the adjective elderly and (especially) the noun elderly are not entirely accepted endonymically (that is, among adults who are senior citizens), the word's exonymic use is increasingly avoided in favor of alternatives. Because the words senior (adjective or noun), old (adjective or noun), and senior citizen also occasionally elicit annoyance endonymically, the alternative older adults is increasingly relied on, at least until the euphemism treadmill might someday turn still further.
Derived terms
Translations
old
|
Noun
elderly (plural elderlies)
- (uncommon) An elderly person.
- Synonyms: elder, senior; see also Thesaurus:old person
- He lives next door to an elderly.
- He lives next door to some elderlies.
- (with definite article, collective) Older people as a whole.
- Synonyms: aged; see also Thesaurus:old person § Holonyms
- the elderly
- health insurance and retirement income for the elderly
Derived terms
Translations
elderly person
|
elderly as group
|
Remove ads
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
Remove ads