Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

old lady

American  

noun

Informal.

  1. a mother, usually one's own.

  2. a wife.

  3. a girlfriend or female lover, especially a female lover with whom one cohabits.

old lady British  

noun

  1. an informal term for mother 1 wife

  2. a large noctuid moth, Mormo maura, that has drab patterned wings originally thought to resemble an elderly Victorian lady's shawl

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of old lady

First recorded in 1775–85

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.

Read on: Want to be a rich old lady?

From MarketWatch • Jan. 16, 2026

To this, Oliver sarcastically replies, “No one needs your 17th-century old lady food and outdated social rules.”

From Salon • Nov. 1, 2025

"Yes, I would love to go on a mission someday. When I'm an old lady, maybe I'll get a chance to go back in space."

From BBC • Oct. 20, 2025

"A taxi driver said: 'look, your old lady is coming up there.' I told her: 'don't move from there, I'm jumping in right now.' ... I swam out that way."

From Barron's • Oct. 16, 2025

Or maybe he does, but you get more positive points for helping the old lady who was so happy she cried and kissed my cheeks so hard she rubbed tears all over them.

From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri

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.