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Glite Dictionary
🚫 Discriminating by age 🧑‍⚖️ A person who discriminates
ageist

ageist

3 7.4
Treating people unfairly because of their age, for example older adults
  • adjective
  • /ˈeɪdʒɪst/
  • Offensive
: edadista
  • Advertisers now target older consumers and have removed ageist stereotypes from their ads.
  • ageist discrimination
  • ageist stereotypes
  • sexist and ageist

I didn't know if they were being ageist, sexist or racist.

Examples

  • Students and faculty often hold stereotypical and ageist views, and "most students" have little interest in aging as a field.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Intergenerational learning activities, especially with healthy, active older adults, can help dissolve ageist stereotypes.

    Academic text (2002)

  • Are they racist and ageist when it comes to voting?

    Blog text (25)

  • Not to be political and not to be ageist, but do cognitive abilities and all that kind of stuff come into play here?

  • Due to their negative image, they confront ageist discrimination in different parts of society.

    Academic text (2009)

  • Others cite the power of ageism in society and ageist attitudes among staff.

    Academic text (2009)

  • Despite the progress evident through the introduction of age discrimination laws, there is evidence that ageist attitudes and the negative stereotyping of older workers are still happening.

    Academic text (2012)

  • Many people are fighting against ageist policies that limit opportunities for older workers.

  • The ageist comments made by the panel disappointed many attendees at the conference.

  • It's important to challenge ageist beliefs that suggest older adults cannot learn new skills.

Antonyms

inclusive
85 4.1

Including all the things or people mentioned, even the limits

fair-minded
13 4.4

Being careful to judge people and ideas honestly without taking sides

How Ageist

discriminatory
  • Offensive
37 6.0
ageist
  • Offensive
3 7.4
biased
152 4.0
impartial
64 4.2

Surface Forms

ageist positive

Morphology

ageist = age (semi-transparent) = age + ist

The word is built from the recognizable base 'age' plus the suffix '-ist', but the resulting meaning 'prejudiced against people because of age' is a specialized extension rather than a fully literal one.

Etymology

Ageist comes from the word age ('how old someone is') and the ending -ist, which you see in artist to name a kind of person or belief. So, to be ageist is to show unfair or hurtful ideas about people because of their age.