pensioner
Americannoun
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a person who receives or lives on a pension.
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a person who works only for pay without regard to the value of the work; a hireling.
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a student at Cambridge University who pays the cost to dine in the commons and other expenses, and is not supported by any foundation.
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Obsolete. a gentleman-at-arms.
noun
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a person who is receiving a pension, esp an old-age pension from the state
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a person dependent on the pay or bounty of another
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obsolete another name for gentleman-at-arms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pensioner
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; from Anglo-French; pension, + -er 2 ( def. )
Vocabulary lists containing pensioner
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:
In the southern Athens seaside suburb of Glyfada, a pensioner struggles to cross an avenue with her shopping trolley, zigzagging between cars stuck in traffic.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
"At first I was quite positive about the skyscraper," says Karvela, the pensioner.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
"If we have people paying rent in retirement who don't have large pension pots to cover those expenses, then that equals higher risk of pensioner poverty."
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Despite his age, the pensioner is also partial to a bit of Pilates, and recently mastered the "crow" pose.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
The final addition to the regular group at the farm was Mr. Jelliman, an amiable white pensioner and old friend of the movement who became the farm foreman.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
"Every single person I talk to is struggling to make ends meet with food parcels, with clothing the children for school, from people 20 upwards, to pensioners," she says.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
The United Kingdom, for instance, considered doing away with checks entirely in 2009, but ultimately backtracked after pensioners protested to members of Parliament.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Inside the sprawling cultural complex, families, students, pensioners and young couples filled rows of seats facing giant screens broadcasting the match from the United States.
From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026
Those left in the city were already mostly pensioners, those without means to leave and residents hoping the Russians could be stopped.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
We are the only boarders on the fourth floor under the age of eighty; our other neighbors are all widows and pensioners.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
