geezer
Americannoun
-
geezers
plural
noun
Usage
What does geezer mean? Geezer is a mildly negative slang term for a man, especially an older man who’s considered odd in some way. In American slang, geezer almost always refers to an older man and is especially used in the phrase old geezer. In British slang, geezer just refers to any man. In both cases, though, the term is used in a mildly insulting, dismissive way. Example: There’s always some old geezer standing on that street corner handing out weird pamphlets.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of geezer
1880–85; variant of guiser ( see guise (v.), -er 1 ), representing dial. pronunciation
Explanation
A geezer is an old person. It might hurt your grandfather's feelings if you refer to him as a geezer, since he thinks of himself as being youthful. Use the word geezer when you need an informal, slightly rude word for "wacky old man." If you're in the UK, you can call any man, whatever age he is, a geezer, but in the US it's specifically an old guy. The root of geezer is the now-obsolete Cockney word guiser, which means "mummer," or "masked mime or actor.
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.
See Examples For:
He described Garcia as a "strange geezer" and said the no-show had done the champion "no favours".
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
He’s almost as old as Jimmy Connors was when Connors did his geezer rally at the 1991 U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
This will not become a geezer gunslinger movie à la Liam Neeson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2025
A geezer with a baby who acts more like an employer.
From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2023
“I know I’m going to sound like an old geezer saying this, but I’m really proud of you. You’re going to be an amazing nurse. You have always known how to take care of me.”
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
The CGL geezers don’t even want to imagine Knueppel returning to punish them on the middle-school courts of Wisconsin again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
The 40-song soundtrack ranges from current stars like Ariana Grande and Carly Rae Jepsen to geezers like Culture Club and Gloria Gaynor, with more downloadable tunes on the way.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 27, 2023
"It's not just geezers, you see lots of girls wearing them nowadays and older people."
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2023
Both of the geezers were feisty and iconoclastic, though Semple sometimes teased Nasatir for being too politically correct.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2021
There were no term limits, and those two geezers had been doing a kick-ass job of protecting user rights for over a decade.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
