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:
“Here what worries us is having electricity, water and money and then resolving the day’s needs,” said Irelis Cedeño, a 65-year-old pensioner who lives just outside of Caracas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
"Triple lock is vital to ward off pensioner poverty" reads the Sunday Express's headline, adding: "Campaigners say devastating new report on plight of UK elderly proves lifeline must stay".
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
"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
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
They include current and future pensioners from Rolls-Royce and British American Tobacco, which Pension Insurance Corporation took over before Athora swooped in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
It passes to the shareholders of the bank that absorbs it, to the pensioners whose funds hold those shares and to the customers whose data the agent reached on its way out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
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
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
The country was starved of hope, cars stuck for days in long, sweaty petrol lines, pensioners raising wilting placards demanding their pay, lecturers gathering to announce yet one more strike.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
