old school

American  

noun

• old schools
  plural

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• old schools
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of old school

First recorded in 1790–1800

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

old school

He addressed his sacking, disagreeing with his critics who declared him too "old school" to command Ukraine's new, technologically advanced forces.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

“I’m a little bit of the old school of cultivating regulars and getting people to want to come back to you,” Winterman, the owner of Francie, said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

"We're also taking donations of any old school uniform that doesn't fit for people to swap and hopefully those can be passed on as well to new homes," he added.

From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026

The hair and makeup teams emphasize Wilde’s resemblance to those old school maneaters while keeping her look cutting-edge.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

“Rumors of your doings have reached your old school, Tom. I should be sorry to believe half of them.”

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

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