Venerable expresses the involuntary reverence that we yield to the majestic and long-enduring, whether in the material world or in human life and character.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

ancient The Coliseum was the former arena in ancient Rome.
antiquated He has somewhat antiquated ideas about education.
decrepit I think that his uncle is a decrepit old man.
reverend People called Reverend Dan Anderson for his advice.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
venerable		steady
ancient		rising
antiquated		steady
decrepit		rising
hoary		steady
reverend		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: old¹, aud¹
4 letters: aged¹, grey¹, gray¹
5 letters: awful², dated², grave¹, stale¹, hoary²
6 letters: august², worthy², sacred², solemn²
7 letters: ancient², elderly³, antique², archaic³, revered²
8 letters: outdated³, reverend³, dreadful², obsolete³, decrepit³, laudable³, outmoded³
9 letters: honorable⁴, admirable⁴, reputable⁴, estimable⁴
10 letters: honourable⁴, antiquated⁴, creditable⁴, worshipful³
11 letters: respectable⁴
12 letters: praiseworthy³, antediluvian
13 letters: superannuated

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (awful² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: vénérable
Italiano: venerabile
Español: venerable