little old man
3
2.1
- noun
- Informal
:
abuelito
- Yesterday, we met a charming little old man who told us stories about his childhood.
- just a little old man
- saw a little old man
You can see that he just looks like a little old man who has no hair on top.
- You can see that he just looks like a little old man who has no hair on top.
- I had this one little old man and he's now since passed, but his name was Clarence.
Examples
-
The Wise Wizard is a peaceful, little old man.
-
I finally went to confront him, and it turns out he was a teeny, darling little old man, just walking around.
Blog text (6) -
You can see that he just looks like a little old man who has no hair on top.
-
There was this little old man that talked to us.
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Have you seen that little old man we were with?
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Hey, who's the little old man?
-
He's a little old man.
-
Who's that little old man?
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I had this one little old man and he's now since passed, but his name was Clarence.
-
From the doorway, she looked at the skeletal little old man with the cavernous cheeks and white beard, who was all the love of her life.
Academic text (1990)
Synonyms
175
1.0
A person who is much older than most adults
42
8.1
An informal, loving name for a grandfather
40
5.0
An older man who is the parent of one of your parents
11
8.2
A friendly name people use for an older man in Britain
8
8.8
A joking, slightly rude name for an old man
6
7.7
An older man who is your grandfather or a kind male relative
3
7.6
A person who is clearly past middle age
1
9.1
An old man people speak about in a friendly or polite way
1
6.7
An old man used as a friendly name for your grandfather or another older man
A friendly name for an old man used in Ireland
An older man people talk about in a loving way, often someone's father
A polite name for an older man who people respect for his wisdom
How Affectionate
- Informal
703
1.0
823
1.0
- Informal
3
2.1
380
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase's meaning is directly derived from its parts: 'little' (small), 'old' (elderly) and 'man' (adult male), so a learner who knows the constituent words will understand it as a small/elderly man, often with an affectionate tone. Adjective stacking before a noun is a regular compositional pattern cross-linguistically, making this MWE immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrase little old man comes from stories and everyday pictures of a small, gentle man with a cane. Because little shows size and old shows age, people use it as a kind, friendly way to mean 'an elderly man'.