hoary
Americanadjective
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having grey or white hair
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white or whitish-grey in colour
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ancient or venerable
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hoary
Explanation
Use the adjective hoary to describe something that is old and worn out — like the hoary jokes your great uncle Albert clings to. The word hoary can also be used to describe something that is white or gray with age. Santa is usually depicted with a hoary beard and hoary hair, although sometimes mall Santas have to fake this with wigs and artificial beards. Hoary can also mean covered with fine white hairs or with down — "The hoary leaves felt like velvet to the touch."
Vocabulary lists containing hoary
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "H"
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White
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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.
“Cats: The Jellicle Ball” didn’t make me rethink my opinion of the musical, though this hoary cat really might have nine lives.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
Lyrically, Kahan is reckoning with his newfound fame – without recycling hoary old clichés where "every hotel room looks the same" and "nobody understands the real me".
From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026
“Spring” is a densely packed wall, interrupted by two doorways, which causes Ms. Yukhnovich’s floral interventions to cluster particularly close together, suggesting the sudden bursting forth of life following the hoary months.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
But sometime over this last winter — that numbing, hoary stretch between mid-February and March — I decided this might be the year to reclaim a bit of seasonal delight.
From Salon • Oct. 7, 2025
Fuchsia peers over the top of the hoary frost on the window pane to look outside and then goes to the fridge and pulls the door open.
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
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.
