old lady

American  

noun

Informal.

• old ladies
  plural

1. a mother, usually one's own.

2. a wife.

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

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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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• old ladies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of old lady

First recorded in 1775–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

old lady

"I can live to an old lady with these kidneys and that is phenomenal. My heart's much better, my lungs much better. My blood disorder is no longer there," she said.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

But if she, a towering scholar of Yiddish literature, assumes the pose of a little old lady, don’t be fooled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

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To this, Oliver sarcastically replies, “No one needs your 17th-century old lady food and outdated social rules.”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

He points to a tiny old lady sitting across the aisle from us.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

Related Words

• bride
• lover
• spouse
• wife