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
- elderliness noun
- nonelderly noun
- unelderly adjective
Etymology
Origin of elderly
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 Los Angeles Police Department is calling on the public for help in identifying a pair of alleged scammers who officials say have been targeting elderly bank customers for at least a month.
From Los Angeles Times
"An elderly person living permanently in a village has a perfect right to be there but is not hiring paddleboards and kayaks, or going to restaurants," he says.
From BBC
"These are elderly people, then you have younger families, mums with prams… there's no chance in hell that person can manoeuvre around a scooter badly parked randomly in the middle of the pavement," she says.
From BBC
In nursing homes mushrooming across the Mexican border, elderly Americans are turning up for low-cost care.
“Now that we have new laws like the elderly parole law,” she said, “we need to expand the SVP sentencing criteria.”
From Los Angeles Times
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.
