elderly
Americanadjective
-
of advanced age; old.
discounts for elderly patrons.
-
of or relating to persons in later life.
noun
adjective
Usage
Referring to any group using the formula the elderly , the disabled is nowadays felt to be inappropriate because it glosses over people's individuality and perpetuates stereotypes. It is preferable to use phrases such as disabled people and so forth. Many people also prefer to talk about older rather than elderly people for similar reasons
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of elderly
Explanation
Someone who's elderly is very old. Your elderly neighbor might need help shoveling snow from her sidewalk and going grocery shopping each week. When you talk about an elderly person, you might call him a "senior citizen" or an "older gentleman." We tend to think of people as elderly when they're quite aged and have started to become physically frail. You can also use the adjective for animals or even inanimate objects that are getting old: "That elderly oak tree is going to have to come down." The Old English root ealdorlic means "princely" or "excellent."
Vocabulary lists containing elderly
Ancient Wisdom: Synonyms for "Old"
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"The Ugly One," Vocabulary from Chapters 16-20
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Society
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The caller said that family members had found the elderly woman, identified as Kun-Ying Yang, unconscious in her apartment.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
It is one thing to lose an elderly parent.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
The writer-director’s 2022 feature debut, “Plan 75,” imagined an unsettling future in which the elderly are offered a subsidy by the government to be euthanized.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
Taiwan's Asus unveiled what it called "a new generation of AI-powered service robotics that provide care- and service-related support" to help elderly people and other users with "a wide range of tasks".
From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026
An elderly woman in a cedar-woven hat sits at the front of one canoe, facing the paddlers.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
