Correct word for elderly

How Do You Spell ELDERLY?

Correct spelling for the English word «elderly» is [ˈɛldəli], [ˈɛldəli], [ˈɛ_l_d_ə_l_i] (IPA phonetic alphabet).

Table of Contents

Anagrams for elderly

  • 3 letters
  • 4 letters
  • 5 letters
  • 6 letters

Common Misspellings for ELDERLY

Below is the list of 90 misspellings for the word «elderly».

  • elderely
  • literly
  • eldery
  • earlierly
  • elderyly
  • alledgedly
  • ealrly
  • allededly
  • epaleply
  • eldelry
  • alderly
  • elerly
  • artillerly
  • aledgedly
  • elederly
  • eledery
  • enderly
  • imeadetly
  • alledgelly
  • oldly
  • earlerly
  • uttertly
  • owlrarley
  • etely
  • laterly
  • ulitily
  • udderly
  • ederly
  • entaerly
  • ellegedly
  • elidgble
  • elegedly
  • alegedly
  • eldere
  • elikely
  • erderly
  • enteirly
  • elegidly
  • orderdly
  • olderly
  • uterly
  • ealderly
  • aledgely
  • alledegly
  • allgedly
  • gladely
  • elderaly
  • elderlys
  • eldly
  • elserly
  • ultmily
  • altely
  • elerdly
  • elderflower
  • eldely
  • allegdly
  • ilarly
  • edlerly
  • aldeay
  • enterly
  • alegedlly
  • effetely
  • imedetly
  • elderley
  • eldler
  • oderly
  • oldery
  • alledgly
  • eldrly
  • eledrly
  • eniterly
  • alledgley
  • uttlerly
  • allermyl
  • alededly
  • lederly
  • uderlay
  • elderyl
  • mildely
  • elderlly
  • eledgedly
  • edelay
  • entierly
  • eliquitly
  • ealdery
  • eldrely
  • eldurly
  • eloquetly
  • epidurl
  • udderdly

Similar spelling words for ELDERLY

  • eldership,
  • alder,
  • elater,
  • elaterid,
  • elder,
  • orderly,
  • older,
  • Elderkin,
  • elderberry,
  • el dorado,
  • elders.

78 words made out of letters ELDERLY

3 letters

  • dye,
  • lye,
  • ell,
  • ler,
  • led,
  • dre,
  • red,
  • rye,
  • eel,
  • ley,
  • eld,
  • lee,
  • dle,
  • eye,
  • dry,
  • ldl,
  • lld.

4 letters

  • drey,
  • dyle,
  • lyde,
  • ered,
  • eley,
  • dyer,
  • edye,
  • deer,
  • rlly,
  • edey,
  • edry,
  • yeed,
  • rely,
  • leyl,
  • dery,
  • leel,
  • dell,
  • llyr,
  • leer,
  • yell,
  • reye,
  • lely,
  • reed,
  • lyre,
  • lele,
  • eyed,
  • yeld,
  • eery,
  • ryll,
  • yder,
  • eely,
  • yele,
  • dlee,
  • reel,
  • lery,
  • ryle,
  • drye.

5 letters

  • leder,
  • redly,
  • elder,
  • deery,
  • reell,
  • edler,
  • edley,
  • yelle,
  • edery,
  • elley,
  • drell,
  • eyler,
  • redye,
  • derly,
  • deley,
  • lyder,
  • reedy,
  • leedy,
  • leery,
  • deely,
  • relly,
  • edell.

6 letters

  • yeller,
  • yelled.

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Correct spelling for elderly

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Asked by: Trey Rutherford

Score: 4.8/5
(69 votes)

el′der·li·ness n. Usage Note: Elderly applies to the stage of life well past middle age. When used as a noun in referring to older persons in general, it is relatively neutral, denoting a group of people whose common characteristic is advanced age: policy issues of special interest to the elderly.

What is difference between elderly and elder?

As adjectives the difference between elderly and elder

is that elderly is old; having lived for relatively many years while elder is comparative of old: older, greater than another in age or seniority.

Is there a plural form for elderly?

The plural form of elderly is elderlies.

How do you use elderly and elders?

What’s the difference between ‘elder’ and ‘older’? Elder and older but mean «more advanced in age.» But while «older» can describe things as well as people, «elder» is reserved for people only. «Elder» can also be used as a noun, as in «respect your elders,» whereas «older» cannot.

How do you use elder in a sentence?

She used to play games of make-believe with her elder sister.

  1. His elder son Liam became a lawyer.
  2. Her elder sister’s been acting rather funnily just recently.
  3. My elder brother is a doctor.
  4. Janet is Mary’s elder sister.
  5. My elder sister has a terror of fire.
  6. My elder brother is a reporter.

30 related questions found

Is the saying oldest or eldest correct?

Oldest can certainly refer to people, but it’s best to opt for eldest when comparing people within a social or familial community. And remember that elder can also be used as a noun, while older cannot. You would respect the elders in your family, not the olders.

Is elderlies a real word?

eld·er·ly. adj. 1. Being past middle age and approaching old age; rather old.

Is 60 years old considered elderly?

Senior citizen: Variably defined as an elderly or retired person, this term generally refers to someone who is at least 60 or 65 years of age. Some people consider «senior citizen» to be a patronizing term. … Elderly: Being in an advanced stage of life, well beyond middle age, is the basic elderly definition.

How do you spell elderly person?

of advanced age; old: discounts for elderly patrons. of or relating to persons in later life. elderly people collectively; senior citizens: Doctors recommend that young children and the elderly get vaccinated.

Can we use elder than?

We need to remember older than is the correct form— e.g – She is older than all her friends. Usually, among siblings we generally use elder. For example- My son John is two years elder to my daughter. So remember the point- Older than / Elder to.

Which is correct elder brother or older brother?

When referring to someone who is older than you in your family or someone who has a close relationship with you, you should use «elder«. The usual comparative and superlative forms of old are older and oldest: •My brother is older than me.

Who is considered an elder?

An elder is any person who is older than you, which you may know from your sister who is only two years older than you saying, «Listen to your elders!» A church elder is someone who helps run the church, not necessarily its eldest member.

What word can I use instead of elderly?

Synonyms & Antonyms of elderly

  • aged,
  • aging.
  • (or ageing),
  • ancient,
  • geriatric,
  • long-lived,
  • old,
  • older,

What age are you considered elderly?

Who is Defined as Elderly? Typically, the elderly has been defined as the chronological age of 65 or older. People from 65 to 74 years old are usually considered early elderly, while those over 75 years old are referred to as late elderly.

What age do you start feeling old?

According to the research, the average American starts feeling old at the age of 47. Similarly, the average respondent starts to really worry about age-related bodily changes around 50 years old.

How old is middle aged?

middle age, period of human adulthood that immediately precedes the onset of old age. Though the age period that defines middle age is somewhat arbitrary, differing greatly from person to person, it is generally defined as being between the ages of 40 and 60.

What age is classed as elderly in Australia?

This e-brief aims to give an overview of the array of services and support provided to the elderly in Australia. The terms ‘elderly’ and ‘aged’ are taken here to mean people aged over 65 years of age.

When can I use eldest?

We use eldest when we speak about three or more brothers, sisters or siblings:

  • the eldest of three children.
  • the eldest son.
  • the eldest of the four siblings.

Is eldest daughter older than daughter?

Indeed, both eldest and oldest refer to the greatest in age. The crucial difference, however, lies in the fact that eldest can only be used for related persons, while oldest can be used for any person, place or thing in a group of related or unrelated elements. Examples: He is the eldest/oldest of the three children.

What’s the politically correct term for old?

One of these recommendations is to refrain from using words like ‘senior’ and ‘elderly’ when describing people of an older age, and instead use the term ‘older adult‘ when describing individuals aged 65 and over.

Is 50 years old considered a senior citizen?

AARP and Senior Associations: Age 50

At the age of 50, you’re considered a senior to the AARP. Even though you may not be part of the retirement community, you can become a member of the AARP as an American citizen and get access to every senior discount available.

What is the role of an elder?

Their responsibilities are to preach and teach, preside at the celebration of the sacraments, administer the church through pastoral guidance, and lead the congregations under their care in service ministry to the world.

How do you use eldest?

Elder and eldest mean the same as older and oldest. We only use the adjectives elder and eldest before a noun (as attributive adjectives), and usually when talking about relationships within a family: Let me introduce Siga. She’s my elder sister.

How do you call elder brother in English?

But it isn’t ordinary American English to address some brother with «elder brother». It might be ordinary for people who do this in some other language, but native English-speakers don’t ordinarily use «elder brother» to address their older brothers. They ordinarily use the brother’s first name.


Old может употребляться по отношению к людям и вещам. Значение этого слова вам хорошо известно: «старый». Людям не очень нравится, когда их  называют старыми, поэтому существуют более приемлемые альтернативы такие, как aged и elderly.

Слово aged обозначает людей почтенного возраста, доживших до преклонных лет. Aged – не отрицательная характеристика, а наоборот, может вызывать гордость, потому что эти люди пережили многих своих ровесников и имеют огромный жизненный опыт:

the aged – старшее поколение

aged people – долгожители

Elderly [‘eld(ə)lɪ] – пожилой. Это слово нейтральное и служит для обозначения возрастной группы «за 60»:

elderly people / the elderly – пожилые люди

her elderly parents – ее пожилые родители

Существуют другие слова и выражения, чтобы описать человека преклонных лет:

senior citizen – пожилой человек

advanced in years – престарелый человек

venerable [‘ven(ə)rəbl] – человек почтенного возраста

Ancient [‘eɪn(t)ʃ(ə)nt] – древний. Дети иногда в шутку называют так своих родителей и родственников, желая подчеркнуть разницу в возрасте и взглядах:

my ancient parents – мои «древние» родители

his ancient sister – его «древняя» сестра

Однако в основном своем значении слово обозначает «относящийся к далекому прошлому», под которым часто имеют в виду период до распада Римской Империи. Поэтому историю до распада Римской Империи называют ancient  history. Кроме этого, ancient можно перевести как «античный»:

Ancient Greece – Древняя Греция

ancient art – древнее искусство

Antediluvian [ˌæntɪdɪ’luːvɪən] – относящийся к эпохе до Всемирного потопа. Но в современном английском это прилагательное чаще используется для создания юмористического эффекта, или чтобы показать пренебрежение, – допотопный, старомодный, устаревший:

antediluvian ideas – допотопные представления

antediluvian telephone – допотопный телефон

Если вы хотите кого-то раскритиковать за старомодные, несовременные взгляды, вы можете использовать слово antiquated [‘æntɪkweɪtɪd] – несовременный, старомодный, устаревший.  Прилагательное antiquated носит скорее неодобрительный характер. Иногда его применяют относительно к предметам в значении «старый, дряхлый, ветхий»:

antiquated views – устаревшие взгляды

antiquated equipment – устаревшее оборудование

Прилагательное archaic [ɑː’keɪɪk] относится скорее к предметам, чем к людям. Archaic характеризует что-либо, имеющее устаревшие характеристики, нечто примитивное, неразвитое, вышедшее из употребления:

archaic words – архаичные, устаревшие слова

archaic methods – архаичные, устаревшие методы

Слово оbsolete [‘ɔbs(ə)liːt] описывает устаревшие вещи, вышедшие из употребления, потому что их заменили новые, более современные:

obsolete computer – устаревший компьютер

obsolete fashion – устаревший фасон

В русский язык из английского перекочевало слово vintage [‘vɪntɪʤ], которое обозначает нечто старинное, классическое, старомодное. Vintage носит положительный оттенок, обозначая что-то раритетное, примечательное из-за своего возраста:

vintage cars – старинные автомобили

vintage telephone – старинный телефон

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пожилой, немолодой, почтенный, престарелые

прилагательное

- пожилой, преклонного возраста
- в грам. знач. сущ. престарелые

Мои примеры

Словосочетания

an elderly couple and their adult children — пожилая супружеская пара и их взрослые дети  
an elderly Russian woman with a babushka — русская старушка в платочке  
caretaker for the elderly — ухаживающий за престарелыми  
ills that afflict the elderly — болезни, поражающие людей в пожилом возрасте  
elderly residents — престарелые жильцы  
a resort for elderly people — курорт для престарелых [пожилых] людей  
elderly clothes — старая [старомодная] одежда  
elderly voice — старческий голос  
elderly age — пожилой возраст  
elderly and eminent scholar — маститый ученый  
mortality risk among elderly workers — смертность среди престарелых рабочих  
social club for the elderly — общественный клуб для престарелых  

Примеры с переводом

Elderly people tend to repeat themselves.

Пожилые люди имеют привычку повторяться.

He’s been nursing an elderly relative.

Он присматривает за престарелым родственником.

The hotel was all alive with elderly ladies.

Отель был переполнен снующими туда-сюда пожилыми дамами.

She does some voluntary work caring for the elderly.

Она добровольно помогает ухаживать за престарелыми.

Her grandmother is elderly and infirm.

Её бабушка — пожилая и немощная.

Care facilities for the elderly are inadequate.

Учреждений по уходу за престарелыми недостаточно.

Millions of elderly people live in poverty.

Миллионы пожилых людей живут в нищете.

ещё 23 примера свернуть

Примеры, ожидающие перевода

For elderly people, TV is a vital link with the outside world.

She’s pledged to help her elderly constituents.

We keep a watchful eye on our elderly neighbors.

Для того чтобы добавить вариант перевода, кликните по иконке , напротив примера.

Возможные однокоренные слова

elder  — старший, старый, опытный, бывший, старшие, старейшина, старец, бузина, самбук
elders  — старые люди
elderling  — старичок, старушка
eldering  — старичок, старушка

Examples of how to use the word “elderly” in a sentence. How to connect “elderly” with other words to make correct English sentences.

elderly (adj): polite word for old

Use “elderly” in a sentence

These seats are reserved for elderly guests.
She takes care of many elderly people.
He gave his seat to an elderly lady.

Back to “3000 Most Common Words in English”

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Several individuals are of the opinion that the words «elderly» and «elderlies» can be used interchangeably or that they have the same meaning. This is a popular thought of these words, and as a writer, you should be sure of such beliefs before using them in writing. This article will help you understand the connection between both words and their meaning.

The words «elderly» and «elderlies» are used similarly in a sentence. However, as nouns, the distinction between the two words is that the word «elderly» refers to being old or living for a considerable amount of time. However, the word «elderlies» is the plural of the word «elderly.»

Using the correct word in a sentence is imperative when writing; this way, you can pass the right information to your readers. This article will look into the definitions, usage, and examples of the words «elderly» and «elderlies.»

men writing pen

What Do The Words «Elderly» And «Elderlies» Mean?

The word «elderly» can be defined as being outdated or feeble due to aging. It refers to being older beyond early adulthood, on the verge of old age, as in elderly persons. This word also means being older in years.

The elderly refers to a stage of life that occurs well after middle age. It also refers to an individual that has lived for more than 65 years. The word «elderly» can also mean being a feature of, or being, an older person or their later years.

It is rather neutral when used as a noun to refer to older people in general, designating a group of individuals who possess the trait of advanced age: policy matters of particular importance to the elderly.

The elderly, on the other hand, has a variety of implications that extend beyond the significance of biological age when employed as an adjective to describe a specific individual. Sitting beside an elderly guy at the event can, on one hand, imply dignity and show respect thanks to its slightly formal tone.

On the other hand, it may seem condescending if it implies fragility or limited capacity: I was caught in traffic beside an elderly motorist. Regardless of different meanings, using a term like «the elderly couple in the middle row» implies a pair is older than it is. Elderly people frequently have less capacity for regeneration and are more prone to diseases like AIDS, hemorrhoids, herpes, and others than younger adults.

A variety of additional fields and professions deal with aging and the elderly, including senior athletics and activities for older people, as well as organic processes of growing, published research on the maturation process, diseases that affect older adults, and technology to assist an aging society.

Senior citizen is a slang term for an elderly person frequently used in American and occasionally British English. It suggests that the subject is a retired individual. This thus typically indicates that the individual is past retirement age, although it varies by country.

The word «elderlies» can be defined as a group of older individuals above sixty-five or who have passed the retirement age in their country. This word is a plural of the word «elderly.»

The word «elderlies» is also a different way of referring to the elders. It is also another way of referring to a group of older people. Since the chronological age that is considered «old age» changes culturally and historically, old age is not a specific biological stage.

How To Properly Use The Words «Elderly» And «Elderlies» In A Sentence

The word «elderly» is frequently used to describe an older adult. Old-fashioned or «very old» are definitions of the word «elderly.» «Aged,» «ancient,» «geriatric,» «senescent,» and «old» are all synonyms for elderly. The term «elderly» is frequently used to imply decline and failure.

By highlighting unfavorable or stereotypical age elements, the term «elderly» can be perceived as ageist and derogatory. A nice approach to saying that someone is elderly is to use the adjective elderly.

When you refer to anything as elderly, you are usually joking about how it is fairly outdated and not quite as good or effective as a new one. The term «elderly» relates to individuals who are 65 years of age or older; those in this age range are called «early elderly,» and those beyond 75 are called «late elderly.»

The phrase «the elderly, the disabled» is no longer considered appropriate when referring to any class because it minimizes individuality and feeds stereotypes. For similar reasons, many people choose to talk about older individuals over elderly individuals. Use terms like «challenged persons» and similar ones instead.

The word «elderlies» is used in a sentence when referring to a group or a set of old people. It is also used as a plural for the word «elderly.» However, the term «elderlies» is rarely used in a sentence; hence, as writers, it might not be necessary for you to use it when writing.

young guy bed iphone

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Examples Of The Words «Elderly» And «Elderlies» Used In Sentences

Although the words «elderly» and «elderlies» are connected, they are used in different contexts in a sentence. Examining some examples of this word in a sentence will provide more clarity on how to use both words in a sentence. Below are some examples of the word «elderly» in a sentence.

  • Children and the elderly should never receive it; it should never be administered to a paralyzed limb where the healing ability is weak or to areas where the patient is lying because doing so will likely result in a bed sore.
  • Invisible to most people, an elderly dame also lives in my area. I like to wander through her pungent herb garden occasionally to harvest simples and hear her tell tales since she has an unmatched capacity for memory that goes back further than mythology.
  • While the officer was providing these answers, an elderly lieutenant approached him; he patiently waited for him to conclude before interrupting him, apparently not appreciating the officer’s comments.
  • Additionally, it works as a diuretic to assist the body flush out extra salt and water; Hawthorne is generally considered safe, but use caution when administering it to infants, pregnant women, or the elderly.
  • Even elderly and sober doctors caught a sufficient amount of infection to free their minds; in various diseases, post-mortem pathology, and the circulation of mechanisms, they cracked upon the view.
  • When he was elected a bishop, he had already become an elderly man with a solid reputation; he had the same ardent fervor and adaptability as an academic statesman while serving as a bishop.
  • Typically, senior centers plan and oversee various leisure programs for the elderly, such as arts and crafts, cultural outings, exercise regimens, and sometimes even daily trips to nearby locations.
  • You may notice several frequent abuse indications if you are an elderly person who feels like you have been mistreated or if you are a colleague, friend, or relative of an elderly person who may be abused.
  • Whether a confused elderly who likes playing cards, interactive games, or athletics can no longer participate in the same games they once enjoyed, you can try alternatives so your beloved one can engage in similar activities.
  • If you know where to search, finding the ideal present for the elderly is simple; options range from Remote control controls with huge buttons and talking alarm clocks to customized backpacks that connect to wheelchairs and amplified cell phones.

Final Thoughts

The words «elderly» and «elderlies» cannot and should not be used interchangeably. The term «elderlies» cannot be found in some dictionaries, so some writers consider it obsolete. However, you should only use it when referring to a group of elderly individuals. With the explanation provided above, you should know the correct way to use both words in writing.

Shawn Manaher

Shawn Manaher is the founder and CEO of The Content Authority. He’s one part content manager, one part writing ninja organizer, and two parts leader of top content creators. You don’t even want to know what he calls pancakes.

Question

Обновлено на

1 апр. 2021




  • Испанский
  • Английский (британский вариант)

  • Английский (американский вариант)

  • Французский

Вопрос про Английский (американский вариант)

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  • Английский (американский вариант)

Elder can be a noun or an adjective.
«Be respectful to your elders.» — noun
«Ms. Baker is an elder of our community.» — noun
«The elder Mr. Smith is an engineer and the younger Mr. Smith is a musician.» — adjective. It has the same meaning as «older».
Elderly can be a noun or an adjective.
«The elderly often know more than you think.» — noun
«Our church has several programs for the elderly.» — noun
«An elderly man was sitting on the bench.» — adjective
«My elderly dog has passed away.» — adjective.




  • Испанский

@MetRon so can I say.

*this help is only for the elderly.

*there was a lot of injures most of them elders.




  • Английский (американский вариант)

*This help is only for the elderly.» — correct
*There was a lot of injures most of them elders.» — Incorrect. This sounds like the injuries were elders, but rally the injured were elders.
*There were a lot of injures, mostly among the elders.» (mostly among the leaders of the community). This use of elder as a noun refers to people who are older and ALSO important, powerful people in the group or community, but doesn’t refer to all old people.
*There were a lot of injures, mostly among the elderly» (mostly among old people)




  • Испанский

@MetRon im confused because I don’t how how to use each one grammatically.




  • Английский (американский вариант)

There are set phrases in English.
«an elder» or «an Elder» (noun) is an older person that has achieved a certain status, office or standing in a church or community.
«My aunt is an elder in her church.»
«your elders» (noun) refers to anyone older than you.
«You should always show your elders some respect.»
«Listen to your elders when they give you advice.»
«the elder Mr. XXX» (adjective) is used when you are comparing an older and a younger person with the same name or same designation. The older person is called «the older XXX» and the younger person is called the younger person.
«The elder Judge Smith is the uncle of the younger Judge Smith.»
Elderly is usually an adjective. It can be preceded by any descriptor, including «the».
«I saw an elderly man fall down and I went to help him.»
«My elderly dog sleeps a lot.» (adjective)
«The elderly», without a noun becomes the noun. It s a collective noun for old people.
«This tax money will go to help the elderly.» (noun)
«A new recreation center is being built for the elderly.» (noun)




  • Испанский

@MetRon so can I say this?

*we’re elders and that’s why the government are helping us.

*we’re only giving stimulus checks to the elderly.




  • Английский (американский вариант)

«We’re elders and that’s why the government is helping us.» It can be OK, but better is:
«We’re your elders and that’s why the government is helping us.
«We’re Elders and that’s why the government is helping us.
«We’re elderly and that’s why the government is helping us.

«We’re only giving stimulus checks to the elderly.» Good




  • Испанский

@MetRon u know why I’m confused ..

for example Elderly and kindly have the same suffix which is (LY) but they’re not used the same way right?




  • Испанский

@MetRon yeah that’s why I’m confused and I’m sorry for bothering u with a lot of questions .. I’m a slow learner and this is hard for me but I thank u a lot for ur help…

but yeah that’s why I’m confused can u explain me that… and probably u did already but idk




  • Английский (американский вариант)

@HDGD You picked an odd example with kindly, which can be an adverb (The physician spoke kindly to his patients) and an adjective (He has a kindly face), but as an adjective, it is more common to use «kind» (He has a kind face). Elderly always uses the -ly form («I looked into her elderly eyes», never «I looked into her elder eyes»). The exception is the «Judge Smith» example I gave earlier.
Most English words that end in -ly are adverbs (like quickly, smoothly, softly), but elderly is not. You can’t make it into an adverb. It is just another quirk of English that «kindly» can be both an adjective and an adverb.

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what is the words elder and elderly a noun or an adjective or what please let me know

  • How do you know if the words is noun,verb and adjective?

    ответ

    A noun is a word for a class of object, people or similar. Example, cat, exhaustion, bed.

    A verb is a word to describe an action. Example, …

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    The only example I can think of right now where an adjective looks exactly the same as a verb is “pretty”:
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    Before looking at this …

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When Does Someone Become ‘Old’?

It’s surprisingly hard to find a good term for people in late life.

Runstudio / Getty

Once people are past middle age, they’re old. That’s how life progresses: You’re young, you’re middle-aged, then you’re old.

Of course, calling someone old is generally not considered polite, because the word, accurate though it might be, is frequently considered pejorative. It’s a label that people tend to shy away from: In 2016, the Marist Poll asked American adults if they thought a 65-year-old qualified as old. Sixty percent of the youngest respondents—those between 18 and 29—said yes, but that percentage declined the older respondents were; only 16 percent of adults 60 or older made the same judgment. It seems that the closer people get to old age themselves, the later they think it starts.

Overall, two-thirds of the Marist Poll respondents considered 65 to be “middle-aged” or even “young.” These classifications are a bit perplexing, given that, well, old age has to start sometime. “I wouldn’t say [65] is old,” says Susan Jacoby, the author of Never Say Die: The Myth and Marketing of the New Old Age, “but I know it’s not middle age—how many 130-year-olds do you see wandering around?”

Read: What happens when we all live to 100?

The word old, with its connotations of deterioration and obsolescence, doesn’t capture the many different arcs a human life can trace after middle age. This linguistic strain has only gotten more acute as average life spans have grown longer and, especially for wealthier people, healthier. “Older adults now have the most diverse life experiences of any age group,” Ina Jaffe, a reporter at NPR who covers aging, told me in an email. “Some are working, some are retired, some are hitting the gym every day, others suffer with chronic disabilities. Some are traveling around the world, some are raising their grandchildren, and they represent as many as three different generations. There’s no one term that can conjure up that variety.”

So if 65-year-olds—or 75-year-olds, or 85-year-olds—aren’t “old,” what are they? As Jaffe’s phrasing suggests, American English speakers are converging on an answer that is very similar to old but has another syllable tacked on as a crucial softener: older. The word is gaining popularity not because it is perfect—it presents problems of its own—but because it seems to be the least imperfect of the many descriptors English speakers have at their disposal.

In general, those terms tend to be fraught or outmoded. Take senior, for instance. “Senior is one of the most common euphemisms for old people, and happens to be the one I hate the most,” Jacoby told me. To her, senior implies that people who receive the label are different, and somehow lesser, than those who don’t. “Think about voters from 18 to 25 … Imagine if a newspaper called them juniors instead of young voters,” she said. (Of course, the word senior can also be used to signify experience and endow prestige—as in senior vice president of marketing—but not all older people interpret it that way in the context of later life.) Additional knocks against the term include its potential ambiguity (inconveniently, it’s also the term for fourth-year high schoolers) and frequent imprecision (it’s often paired with the word citizen, even though not every older resident of the U.S. is an American citizen).

Meanwhile, elderly, a term that was more common a generation ago, is hardly neutral—it’s often associated with frailty and limitation, and older people generally don’t identify with it. “If you ask a room of people at a senior center who there is a member of ‘the elderly,’ you might get only reluctant hands or none,” Clara Berridge, a gerontologist at the University of Washington School of Social Work, posited in an email. “The fact that people don’t often voluntarily relate to this term is a strong reason to not apply it to them.”

Other, less common words don’t seem fit for everyday use either. Aging is accurate but vague—everyone is aging all the time. Retiree doesn’t apply to an older person who never worked or hasn’t stopped working, and, further, can suggest that someone’s employment status is her defining feature. Geriatric is precise, but sounds far too clinical. Elder can be appropriative—the word is common in some Native American and African American communities—and besides, could imply wisdom in people who lack it.

Euphemisms, too, are clearly out: References to one’s “golden years” and to old people as “sages” or “super adults” strain to gloss over the realities of old age. “Phrases such as ‘70 is the new 50’ reflect a ‘pos­itive aging’ discourse, which suggests that the preferred way of being old is to not be old at all, but rather to maintain some image of middle-age functionality and appearance,” Berridge wrote in a 2017 academic article she co-authored.

Read: What it’s like to date after middle age

Of course, old hasn’t gone entirely out of circulation. In fact, it was popular with some of the experts I spoke with, who were unfazed by it. “I actually think those of us who are in our 60s and beyond ought to reclaim old,” Karl Pillemer, a professor of human development at Cornell University, told me. “[For] someone like me, who’s lived at least two-thirds of his natural life span, I have no objection at all to being called an old person, but I understand that has connotations for people.”

Those “connotations” get at one reason the aforementioned panoply of terms remains inadequate, and why searching for a better word than old isn’t an unnecessary concession to older people’s sensitivities: Language can’t eradicate society-wide biases against old age. “I’d argue that the reason there isn’t consensus about a preferred term has everything to do with ageism rather than that the terms themselves are problematic,” Elana Buch, an anthropologist at the University of Iowa, said in an email. “As long as being ‘old’ is something to avoid at all costs (literally, ‘anti-aging’ is a multibillion-dollar industry), people will want to avoid being identified as such.”

Aware of these biases, Buch has come to favor the terms older adults and older people in both academic writing and everyday conversation, explaining that those phrases are “simple, descriptive, and foreground the personhood/adulthood of the people being described.” Pillemer made a similar point: Unlike other categories and labels, older is a descriptor that “people can move into without having it seem like it’s a whole different category of human being.”

“I think you’re going to see a movement almost entirely to ‘older adults’ or ‘older people,’ ” Pillemer said. “I don’t know anybody, either in advocacy, professional gerontology, or personally, who finds those terms offensive.”

That movement has already begun. Kory Stamper, a lexicographer and an author, told me that the phrase older adults has become much more common in the past 15 years, a period of time during which senior and senior citizen have seen sharp declines in usage. That’s according to the Corpus of Contemporary American English, a database of more than 600 million words collected from newspapers, novels, speeches, and other sources that Stamper said offers a “quick view of modern American English.” The database also indicates that elderly, mature, and aging have been falling in popularity over the past 30 years.

Older may be catching on because it seems to irritate the smallest number of people. Ina Jaffe, the NPR journalist, found early on in her reporting on old age that people had strong reactions to the existing linguistic palette. Several years ago, curious to get a better sense of which terms people liked and which they didn’t, she helped arrange a poll on the NPR website soliciting opinions. Older adult was “the winner … though you can’t say there was any real enthusiasm for it among our poll takers. Just 43 percent of them said they liked it,” she explained on air. Elder and senior had roughly 30 percent approval ratings.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that there isn’t any good term for older adults besides, well, older adults,” Jaffe told me recently. Other important shapers of language have come to that conclusion as well. Older has become the preferred nomenclature in many academic journals and dictionary definitions. The New York Times’ stylebook says of the word elderly, “Use this vague term with care,” and advises, “For general references, consider older adults, or, sparingly, seniors.” Juliana Horowitz, a researcher at the Pew Research Center, which often segments its survey respondents along demographic lines, said the organization tends to go with older adults.

(A popular alternative, of course, is to forgo broad labels and specify the ages in question. Pew often mentions the age cutoffs for its generational cohorts, and the New York Times stylebook prefers people in their 70s or people over 80 to elderly. Referring to a broader group, “A term we often use is people age 50 and up and/or people 50-plus,” said Jo Ann Jenkins, the CEO of AARP. “It’s factual and commonsense.”)

Older is not without its downsides, though. First, it’s not common to say “younger people,” but, rather, just “young people”—an unpleasant asymmetry, and an implicit acknowledgment that young doesn’t carry disagreeable associations like old does. Second, it is a relative term without a clear comparison: Older … than whom, exactly? And third, as Berridge, the gerontologist, pointed out, “‘older adult’ implies a younger adult age as the unspoken norm.” Still, she told me, “I use ‘older adult’ because it seems like the least-bad option at this point in time.”

Replacements for all these existing terms—older as well as the words it’s gradually displacing—have been proposed over the years. For at least a couple of decades, gerontological researchers have been making a distinction between the young old (typically those in their 60s and 70s) and the old old (definitions vary, but 85 and up is common). Another academic term is third age, which refers to the period after retirement but before the fourth age of infirmity and decline (which some would argue unjustly legitimizes distinctions based on physical abilities). Perennials, an inventive, plant-inspired label intended to convey lasting value and consistent renewal, is another contender.

But none of these has caught on outside the realms of academic research and op-eds. “If I had to pick a track down which the language will gallop,” said Stamper, the lexicographer, “then my guess is older is probably the word that we’ll default to, because we haven’t taken any of these other coinages and run with them yet.”

In the absence of a neologism that sticks, older is a more or less satisfactory solution to this linguistic problem. But that adjective, like any other term associated with old age, is silent on how old people must be for it to be applied to them. Attempts to work that out get at the true essence of life’s later stages.

Policy makers have their own narrow answer. “In the research world and in the policy world, [65] is the number people use to demarcate entry into old age,” says Laura Carstensen, the director of Stanford University’s Center on Longevity. “It’s been reified: You’re eligible for Social Security, for Medicare …and the research literature is focused on people 65 and older, so even though 65 doesn’t mean anything in any real way, it has come to represent real things.”

But this number, 65, is more or less arbitrary—there’s certainly no biological basis for it. “For policy-planning purposes, ‘over 75’ is a much more meaningful demographic than ‘over 65,’ ” says Karl Pillemer. Statistically, that’s the age when people become significantly more likely to develop a chronic disease, he notes. “People between the ages of 65 and 75 are often more similar to people in middle age.”

Even then, focusing on a particular number seems misguided. “Chronological age is a very poor measure of almost anything by the time you get to 65,” Carstensen says. “Take two 65-year-old people … One can [have dementia], and the other could be, you know, a Supreme Court justice. So it doesn’t tell you much.”

Picking other delineators—perhaps employment status or dependence on caregivers—might get around the issue Carstensen articulated but could introduce other problems; those two examples in particular would risk putting undue emphasis on people’s ability to work or live independently.

Ideally, a definition of old age would capture a sense of things ending, or at least getting closer to ending. All those people who call 65 “middle-aged” aren’t delusional—they probably just don’t want to be denied their right to have ambitions and plans for the stretch of their life that’s still ahead of them, even if that stretch is a lot shorter than the one behind them.

Susan Jacoby, the author of Never Say Die, suggested a definition of old age that addresses this elegantly. She told me that, in her 20s, she made lifelong friends, some of them 10 or 15 years older than she was, while working at The Washington Post. Now that she’s 74, she comes across obituaries for those old friends. “What I think of as old is an age when you start seeing people you know in the obituary column,” she told me. “I think of middle age as a time when you’re not afraid to look at the obituaries, because you assume that the people who have died you’re not going to know.” Even if her definition doesn’t help us figure out how to refer to others, it is poignant, personalized, and flexible—and will likely age well.

Adjective



The program is intended to provide medical care for elderly people.



elderly people who stay active are usually the healthiest and the happiest

Recent Examples on the Web



Like Murphy, Hall also portrayed multiple characters in the film, most notably elderly barber Morris, Reverend Brown and an unattractive woman during the club scene.


Mary Green, Peoplemag, 9 Apr. 2023





Ricky, 46, says he was routinely cursed and yelled at by an elderly client and has never been paid as much as minimum wage for changing bedpans and diapers, among other chores.


Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2023





But once someone gets there, the department doesn’t use an internal classification system—meaning an elderly inmate without a history of violence can be housed with a young, violent prisoner.


Ivana Hrynkiw | Ihrynkiw@al.com, al, 8 Apr. 2023





Reimbursements, made under federal waivers that allow states to spend Medicaid dollars for elderly care outside of nursing homes, are not keeping up with rising costs, industry representatives said.


Christopher Rowland, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2023





An agency officer went to the ranch and found an elderly horse down and trapped in mud.


Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2023





Trick Trick, whose real name is Christian Anthony Mathis, said these type of atrocities against our women, children and elderly cannot and will not be tolerated.


Jasmin Barmore, Detroit Free Press, 4 Apr. 2023





Not even the final showdown, co-starring badass elderly veterans (introduced with AC/DC fanfare) who help turn the USS Missouri into a spaceship-killing machine, couldn’t save it.


Nick Allen, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2023





This elderly dog led me to think about the different ways people interact with the bodies of their pets after death.


Eric Tourigny, CNN, 3 Apr. 2023



See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘elderly.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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