hoary
Americanadjective
-
having grey or white hair
-
white or whitish-grey in colour
-
ancient or venerable
Other Word Forms
- hoarily adverb
- hoariness noun
- unhoary adjective
Etymology
Origin of hoary
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.
“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
The samples from the stall that contained the coronavirus also contained DNA from a variety of animals, including dogs, rabbits, hoary bamboo rats, Malayan porcupines and masked palm civets.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 21, 2024
Other animals identified as a potential source of the pandemic were the masked palm civet, which was also associated with the Sars outbreak in 2003, as well as hoary bamboo rats and Malayan porcupines.
From BBC • Sep. 19, 2024
It was a hoary restatement of Lamarck’s idea—of adaptation morphing directly into hereditary change—decades after geneticists had pointed out the conceptual errors of Lamarckism.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
