golden age

American  

[gohl-dn ayj-] / ˈgoʊl dn eɪdʒˈ /

noun

• golden ages
  plural

1. the most flourishing period in the history of a nation, literature, etc.

2. Classical Mythology. the first and best of the four ages of humankind; an era of peace and innocence that finally yielded to the silver age.

3. (usually initial capital letters) a period in Latin literature, 70 b.c. to a.d. 14, in which Cicero, Catullus, Horace, Vergil, Ovid, and others wrote; the first phase of Classical Latin.

4. the period in life after middle age, traditionally characterized by wisdom, contentment, and useful leisure.

5. the age at which a person normally retires.

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golden age British  

noun

1. classical myth the first and best age of mankind, when existence was happy, prosperous, and innocent

2. the most flourishing and outstanding period, esp in the history of an art or nation

   the golden age of poetry

3. the great classical period of Latin literature, occupying approximately the 1st century _bc and represented by such writers as Cicero and Virgil

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golden age Idioms  

1. A period of prosperity or excellent achievement, as in Some consider the baroque period the golden age of choral music. The expression dates from the mid-1500s, when it was first applied to a period of classical Latin poetry.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• golden ages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of golden age

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

golden age

We live in a golden age of idiocy and confrontation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Trump last week pledged a "golden age" of space in a push to launch more rockets, including to Mars and the Moon.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

Hopefully, I don’t sound as naive as those early internet optimists, who thought new shifts would usher in a golden age of humanity.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

“We launched it at a time when it was almost the golden age of independent, small publishing, a lot of which was translation-focused,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

My first quarter at Lowood seemed an age; and not the golden age either; it comprised an irksome struggle with difficulties in habituating myself to new rules and unwonted tasks.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë