- (used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
"how old are you?"; "his mother is very old"; "a ripe old age"
- Of long duration; not new
"old wine"; "old country"; "old friendships"; "old money"; "old tradition"; "old house"
- (used for emphasis) very familiar
"good old boy"; "same old story"
- Skilled through long experience
"an old offender"; "the older soldiers";
- older
- Belonging to some prior time
"old friend";
- erstwhile, former, onetime, one-time, quondam, sometime
- Excellent
"we had a grand old time";
- bang-up [N. Amer, informal], bully [informal], corking [Brit, informal], cracking [Brit, informal], dandy [informal], great, groovy [informal], keen, neat, nifty [informal], not bad [informal], peachy, slap-up [informal], swell [informal], smashing [Brit, informal], not half bad [informal], grouse [Austral, NZ, informal], ripper [Austral, informal], lovely
- Just preceding something else in time or order
"my old house was larger";
- previous
- No longer current or applicable
"old regulations from the previous century"; "old computer equipment";
- outdated, out-of-date, superannuated, obsolete
- (linguistics) of a very early stage in development
"Old English is also called Anglo Saxon"; "Old High German is High German from the middle of the 9th to the end of the 11th century"
Derived forms: Older, olds, oldest, older
See also: age, aged, aged[2], ageing, age-old, aging, ancient, anile [archaic], antediluvian, antiquated, antique, archaic, auld [UK, dialect], centenarian, darkened, doddering, doddery, early, elderly, emeritus, experienced, experient [archaic], familiar, gaga [informal], good, gray [US], gray-haired [US], gray-headed [US], grey [Brit, Cdn], grey-haired [Brit, Cdn], grey-headed [Brit, Cdn], grizzly, hand-down, hand-me-down, hoar [archaic], hoary, immemorial, long in the tooth [informal], long-ago, longtime, long-time, mature, middle-aged, nonagenarian, noncurrent, nonmodern, octogenarian, of age, older, oldish, overage, overaged, over-the-hill, past, patched, preceding, pre-owned, rusty, secondhand, second-hand, senescent, senile, senior, sexagenarian, stale, sunset, superannuated, used, venerable, white-haired, worn, yellow, yellowed
Type of: past, past times, yesteryear
Encyclopedia: Old, Old Post Office