septuagenarian

American  

[sep-choo-uh-juh-nair-ee-uhn, -too-, -tyoo-] / ˌsɛp tʃu ə dʒəˈnɛər i ən, -tu-, -tyu- /

adjective

1. of the age of 70 years or between 70 and 80 years old.

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noun

1. a septuagenarian person.

septuagenarian British  

/ ˌsɛptjʊədʒɪˈnɛərɪən /

noun

1. a person who is from 70 to 79 years old

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adjective

1. being between 70 and 79 years old

2. of or relating to a septuagenarian

Usage

What does septuagenarian mean? A septuagenarian is someone in their 70s (70 to 79 years old), or someone who is 70 years old. Septuagenarian can also be used as an adjective to describe someone in their 70s, as in Our audience is mostly made up of septuagenarian women, or things related to such a person, as in I have entered my septuagenarian years. It’s one of several similar terms used to refer to a person of a certain age, including quadragenarian (40s), quinquagenarian (50s), sexagenarian (60s), octogenarian (80s), and nonagenarian (90s). Such words are more commonly used as people get older: quadragenarian and quinquagenarian are rarely used, but septuagenarian and octogenarian are more commonly used. Another word for septuagenarian is septuagenary. Example: Today is my last day as a septuagenarian—tomorrow I begin my 80s!

Etymology

Origin of septuagenarian

1705–15; < Latin septuāgēnāri ( us ) ( see septuagenary) + -an

Example Sentences

Nazih Yahya, a septuagenarian resident with the wearied tone of someone long accustomed to conflict, expected the Israeli military to treat residents in non-Shiite villages differently from areas it counts as bastions of Hezbollah support.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

“Canada, I think, is just feeling hurt. It’s the climate these days,” said Chapman, a septuagenarian who was volunteering for Modernism Week, a Palm Springs festival celebrating midcentury architecture and interior design.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2026

What would Passover be without our neighbor Arnold, the septuagenarian art-house movie-theater owner who regularly invites our son over for age-appropriate “cappuccinos,” aka hot chocolate?

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025

Investigators first became suspicious when the septuagenarian ringleader attempted to sell two supposedly original paintings by Picasso on the art market.

From BBC • Oct. 24, 2025

Green, a suavely tough little septuagenarian, has an imposing reputation among his peers, who admire his stagecraft—a repertoire of actorish gifts that includes a sense of timing acute as a night-club comedian’s.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote