old school

American  

noun

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

Etymology

Origin of old school

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

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

From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026

"There's another wave of country artists that are coming that is really into doing it the old school way and showing emotion," she said.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

"It was a proper traditional old school cup tie," Grimsby boss David Artell told TNT Sports.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2026

For dinner, I went old school at À La Renaissance, a century-old, recently revived bistro with chunky terrazzo floors and burgundy banquettes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

It reminded her of last year, when her mother had taken her to the sixth-grade honors banquet at her old school.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi