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

See Examples For:

over the hill

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

Everybody wants good news on Daly, but if it's bad news there is a cavalry coming over the hill in the shape of Kinghorn and Keenan and a cast of others.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025

As she spoke, the familiar and unmistakable squinch-squanch, squinch-squanch of the DYNNE’s heavy footsteps could be heard plodding over the hill, and when he finally appeared he was dragging an incredibly large sack behind him.

From "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster