old-line

American  

[ohld-lahyn] / ˈoʊldˈlaɪn /

adjective

1. following or supporting conservative or traditional ideas, beliefs, customs, etc.

2. long established; traditional.

   old-line society.

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old-line British  

adjective

1. conservative; old-fashioned

2. well-established; traditional

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Other Word Forms

• old-liner
  noun

Etymology

Origin of old-line

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

With independent studios facing challenges finding tenants to rent their sound stages and services, old-line studio titans such as Warner Bros.,

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2026

To a degree, the dinner manifested yet another step in the changing of the guard on Wall Street, from the old-line legacy banks to the new private-market institutions.

From Barron's • Dec. 5, 2025

“Cyclical stocks have greatly underperformed this year, but with job losses mounting, during the months ahead, even the Mag7 may not be able to keep pace with old-line CYCLICALS!” says Paulsen.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 7, 2025

The problem: Disney still relies on old-line TV channels for a colossal portion of its profit — and those outlets are being maimed by cord-cutting, sports programming costs and advertiser pullback.

From New York Times • May 10, 2023

The old-line Wall Street law firms had a very specific idea about what it was that they did.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• conservative
• traditional
• traditionalist
• traditionalistic