old-line
Americanadjective
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following or supporting conservative or traditional ideas, beliefs, customs, etc.
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long established; traditional.
old-line society.
adjective
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conservative; old-fashioned
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well-established; traditional
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of old-line
First recorded in 1855–60
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.
“Boston has created a very strong position in the mutual fund industry,” an old-line Bostonian tells me.
From Barron's • May 1, 2026
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
“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
Disney, in its quarterly earnings report last week, said that it had narrowed its streaming losses but that revenue from its old-line TV channels had fallen sharply.
From New York Times • May 14, 2023
All of a sudden the things that the old-line law firms didn’t want to do—hostile takeovers and litigation—were the things that every law firm wanted to do.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
