little old lady
24
4.2
- noun
- Informal
:
viejecita
- The little old lady clutches the suitcase to her chest with all her might.
- a sweet little old lady
- help a little old lady
I could tell you that Lily will sell real estate until she's a little old lady.
- I could tell you that Lily will sell real estate until she's a little old lady.
- When that gave her no relief whatsoever, I said, you know what, let's get an EKG on this sweet little old lady.
- And so I pick up the phone and I hear this little old lady voice and she's like, hi, Brad, it's Justice Ginsburg.
- Or is this guy actually going to slug a little old lady in the face?
- Today I talk about little old ladies, luck, and being a great right hooker.
- An ex consul who's a slave to a little old lady, a wealthy man who's a slave to a servant girl.
Examples
-
There stood a little old lady rocking him in an effort to calm him down.
Blog text (14) -
Excuse me, little old lady, do you have change for a dollar?
Fiction book (1994) -
Well, you were very good at helping the little old ladies to their seat.
-
A little old lady dropped them by yesterday morning.
-
So all it takes is a little old lady to swing an election?
Blog text (30) -
A little old lady from Jamaica taught me how to do it.
-
I spent hours watching little old ladies find the cheapest and best deals on everything.
Blog text (4) -
The little old lady lived here with her even older and frailer brother.
Fiction book (1996) -
No, there's just a sweet, little old lady that lives upstairs.
-
The kind little old lady brought cookies for all the children in the neighborhood.
Synonyms
293
1.0
A woman who is past middle age
47
1.0
An older woman who is your grandmother or a friendly older family member
1
9.7
A loving name for an older woman used like a grandmother
1
9.5
An older woman who is friendly and likes to chat
Antonyms
How Affectionate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core meaning—an elderly woman—is directly signaled by 'old' + 'lady', and 'little' functions as a diminutive/affectionate modifier so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer an elderly, small/harmless woman. However, the collocational and cultural nuance (affectionate or mildly humorous stereotype) and the non-literal, diminutive use of 'little' are not fully predictable without exposure, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
Little old lady may come from the simple image of a small, quiet older woman: calling someone little and old makes them seem 'kind' and 'harmless'. That's why people use it as a friendly or slightly funny way to talk about an elderly woman.