pensioner
Americannoun
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pensioners
plural
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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:
"I've lived here for 25 years and the water has never been this low," said pensioner Mitica Nicolae from Corabia as he fished in an irrigation canal close to the river.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Welfare spending is forecast to rise by over a quarter between 2025 and 2030, with the main increases being sickness-related payouts for working age adults and pensioner benefits.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
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
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
Statistics Jersey said pensioners were particularly affected by heating fuel costs, which played a larger role in the pensioners' inflation measure.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
"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
While the group phase was reaching its dramatic culmination in North America, retiree Stefania Tentarelli went to her cobblestone local piazza to watch fellow pensioners play an 18th-century Neapolitan card game.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
That doesn’t make any sense, of course—these are private files of pensioners; two strangers would never be allowed to thumb through them without permission.
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.
