old school

American  

noun

old schools plural

1. advocates or supporters of established custom or of conservatism.

   a military man of the old school.

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old school British  

noun

1. a school formerly attended by a person

2. a group of people favouring traditional ideas or conservative practices

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• old-school
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• old schools
  plural

Etymology

Origin of old school

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

old school

Amaineh Nademi walks carefully through what is left of her old school.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Deming goes old school to distort Reilly’s focus and bombard him with harsh spotlights.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

Is time for a more old school, and spontaneous, connection?

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

I have been married over 40 years, and we are old school.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 30, 2026

It was from an old school friend named Stephen Katz.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson