oldie
Americannoun
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oldies
plural
noun
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an old person or thing
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a parent
children and their oldies
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of oldie
Explanation
An oldie is a beloved old song, TV show, or movie. Many radio stations specialize in playing "the golden oldies" — songs like "Poison Ivy" or "Shake Yo' Bootie." As time goes on, more and more highlights of popular culture become oldies — in the 1970s, people listened to oldies from the 50s, but today there are just as many classic radio oldies from the 70s and even 80s. You can also watch oldies on television — old shows in black and white like "Father Knows Best," or with obvious, dated laugh tracks, like "Gilligan's Island."
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.
See Examples For:
Yet the 76-year-old singer and songwriter remains a much-talked-about pop-culture fixture, not least on TikTok, where his oldie “Zanzibar” never seems far from cropping up on one’s scroll.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025
The PA played an oldie: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” while the ice crew picked up the hats.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
It's an oldie but a goodie, I guess.
From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2023
So he can always fill in the blank with an oldie but goodie: “The state of Seattle is … not my fault.”
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2023
After Sri Lanka chose to bat, England's fast start with the ball came from a golden oldie rather than any of the whipper-snapping prospects.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2022
"It wasn't just the oldies who knew it the first time around. It's a classic song - it was really lovely hearing kids singing along with it."
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
No, that lyric wasn’t written by the Byrds in 1965, and even atheists who hear “Turn! Turn! Turn!” on oldies radio might want to understand that the song is drawing from a deep well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
"We're a bunch of oldies, but everyone gets stressed, everyone suffers loss and gets sad, everyone's happy, everyone has people in their life they love and people who annoy them," Forte said.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
Spiro has been slowly assembling her debut album for the past two years, but with headlining concerts to play, she’s reaching back for some of her oldies from 2024.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
The music is some kind of oldies rock 'n roll that Lola might boogie to while gardening.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
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.
