Synonyms for hoary
- adjective
Most common
ancient time-worn venerable antediluvian grey UK white-haired rusty silvery
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Venerable — old or old-fashioned; trite
old, time-worn, venerable, ancient, antediluvian, clichéd, immemorial, cobwebby, conventional, banal, moldy US, mouldy UK, antique, played out, cobwebbed, superannuated, antiquated, trite, stale, obsolete, primitive
2. Grey — white or grey with age
grey UK, gray US, white-haired, hoar, grizzled, gray-headed, gray-haired, silver-haired, grizzly, frosty, aged, wintry, geriatric informal, elderly, grisly dated
Definitions
- adj. 1
White, whitish, or greyish-white.
- adj. 2
White or grey with age.
The old man bowed his hoary head in acquiescence.
- adj. 3
Old or old-fashioned; trite.
- adj. 4
Remote in time past.
Related words
- Word family
- hoarily hoariness hoar
- Phrases
- hoary marmot hoary fox hoary rockrose hoary willow hoary zorro
- Is a kind of
- blighted gone bad spoiled cankered decayed
Choose the right word
Gray, hoary, and moldering refer to outward and visible tokens of age. Decrepit, gray, and hoary refer to the effects of age on the body exclusively; senile upon the mind also; as, a decrepit frame, senile garrulousness.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- ancient The Coliseum was the former arena in ancient Rome.
- venerable Hero is a venerable title, because of the price paid.
- antediluvian The vampire was born in the antediluvian period.
- grey My friend disappeared like a grey mule in the fog.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| hoary | steady | |
| ancient | rising | |
| venerable | steady | |
| antediluvian | rising | |
| grey | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- old1, aud1
- 4 letters
- grey1, gray1, aged1, hoar1
- 5 letters
- white1, rusty2, stale1, banal2, trite1, olden2, moldy2
- 6 letters
- frosty2, bygone2, wintry2, grisly2, mouldy2
- 7 letters
- ancient2, elderly3, antique2, grizzly2, silvery3, hoarish
- 8 letters
- obsolete3, foregone2, grizzled2, cobwebby, griseous
- 9 letters
- primitive3, venerable4, geriatric4, cobwebbed, albescent, canescent
- 10 letters
- antiquated4, immemorial5
- 12 letters
- conventional4, antediluvian
- 13 letters
- superannuated
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (rusty2 = 2 syllables).