over the hill

Idioms  

1. Past one's prime, as in I'm a little over the hill to be playing contact sports. This term, alluding to a climber who has reached a mountaintop and is now descending, has been used figuratively for the decline caused by aging since the mid-1900s.

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Explanation

Use the adjective over-the-hill when you need a blunt way to describe someone as really old. You might feel over-the-hill if you can't keep up with the little boy you're babysitting. When someone is over-the-hill, he's too old to be of much use, like a former football player who's past his prime. It's more common for a person to describe himself as over-the-hill than to talk about someone else this way: "I just turned sixty — I'm officially over-the-hill." It's also commonly used in a joking way. This phrase has been around since about 1950.

Example Sentences

At 41, he has to defend himself from questions of being over the hill.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2026

“I’m not over the hill, but I’m on top of the hill with a view in both directions,” Kelly told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 13, 2026

Today is my birthday, and I’m feeling a bit over the hill.

From Barron's • Jan. 16, 2026

After walking over the hill, this cousin by the last name of Walton made his way south to Arkansas and created an empire based on the profit from selling those pigs at market.

From Salon • Mar. 6, 2025

I lay still a while: the night-wind swept over the hill and over me, and died moaning in the distance; the rain fell fast, wetting me afresh to the skin.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë