old man
English · Thesaurus
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old man¹
Where it comes from
From Middle English alde mann, aldman, elde man, oldeman, from Old English eald man.
noun old men · oldman · old-man
- An elderly man.
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One's father.
He smacked me around some. Didn't everybody's old man?
Similar: dad, pa, ayr, ba, baba, da, dada, daddio, daddy, father, Father, fatherling · Opposite: old lady
- A husband, or male significant other, irrespective of age. “[…] Now if that thing is balling—and your old lady or your old man is off somewhere flashing and doesn't want to be touched—well, you get put down on acid, you can be on a bummer for months.”
- One's male employer, irrespective of age.
- A unit's commanding officer, or the commander of a naval vessel, irrespective of age.
- An Australian Aboriginal elder. Big Paddy nursed his grief in a quiet, mad fury. Then he urged the Old Men to ‘sing out’ those responsible for the death of his son.
- Term of address for a male friend, irrespective of age. “Don't mention it, old man,” I responded courteously.
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Synonym of Old Adam.
Similar: Old Adam
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Synonym of southernwood.
Similar: southernwood
- The state of human nature without the spiritual transformation brought about by redemption through Jesus Christ. A new light has entered into the life and transformed it wonderfully, the soul has been born again, the old man has been put off, the new man which is akin to Jesus Christ has been put on.
- Used attributively to denote something of exceptional size, strength, age etc. ‘You watch out for them old man brown snakes in here. I seen a shed skin back there in the hall.’
Similar: antiquity, codger, gadgie, gaffer, geezer, gramps, greybeard, old codger, old fart, old man, unc, whitebeard · Opposite: boy, old woman, young man
Old Man²
proper noun
- A title given to the personification of a force of nature or abstract concept, such as Old Man Winter or Old Man River. But it was really Old Man Concentration and his partner, Co-operation, that put across the big clean-up.
- A creator god in some Native American mythologies. The Wiyot say that Condor recreated mankind after Old Man wiped out humanity with a flood.
- Ellipsis of Old Man of Coniston
Thesaurus
Translations
Every language
noun elderly man
| Español | viejo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 노인 noin, 할아버지 harabeoji |
| 日本語 | お爺さん ojīsan, 親父 oyaji, 親爺 oyaji, 老爺 oyaji, 爺 jijī, 老人 rōjin |
| 中文 | 老漢 /老汉 lǎohàn, 老頭兒 /老头儿 lǎotóur, 老人 lǎorén |
| हिन्दी | बूढ़ा būṛhā, शेख़ śex, शैख़ śaix |
| Kiswahili | mzee |
| Português | velho, idoso, velhote |
| Français | vieillard, vieil homme, vieux, vieux monsieur |
| Deutsch | Greis, Alter, alter Mann, Väterchen |
| Italiano | vecchio |
| Ελληνικά | γέρος géros, γέροντας gérontas |
| Română | moș |
| Русский | стари́к starík, старичо́к staričók, дед ded, де́душка déduška, ста́рец stárec, пожило́й челове́к požilój čelovék |
| Tiếng Việt | ông già |
| العربية | شَيْخ šayḵ, عَجُوز ʕajūz |
Talk about this word "old man." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/old%20man. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. old man. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/old%20man "old man." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/old%20man.Cite this
@misc{old_man_2026,
title = {old man},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/old%20man},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
