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old-line

old-line

3 7.2
Beliefs and ways that people in a family or group keep for a long time
  • adjective
  • /ˈoʊldˌlaɪn/
  • US
translation icon : tradicional
  • I'm an old-line Republican who has had enough.
  • old-line companies
  • old-line firms
  • old-line families

Examples

  • The old-line heavy equipment manufacturer had begun to diversify, and electronics and computer software had become more important to its business.

    Academic text (2004)
  • The replacement of old-line managers has resulted in a loss of emergency response knowledge, equipment, and motivation.

    Academic text (1995)
  • Your fears are so typical of the old-line Party men, Graf.

  • "It shows that an old-line American manufacturing company can transform itself," Holstein said.

    Academic text (2011)
  • That does not mean that old-line churches are not important or worthy of balanced, nuanced coverage.

    Blog text (4)
  • In the "good ole days," the old-line industrialists would be the establishment counterweight to Wall Street.

    Blog text (4)
  • The old-line Luanda families had been economically and socially marginalized by increased white migration to the capital beginning in the 1920s.

    Academic text (2004)
  • After graduating from the University of Georgia School of Law, he was offered a job at the law firm of Bouhan, Williams & Levy, probably the best-known of Savannah's old-line firms.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Democrats wielded similar advantages until the 1980s, when the South underwent party realignment after President Ronald Reagan's election, with many old-line Democrats jumping to the Republican Party.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Many of the companies are old-line manufacturing firms that have hit hard times.

Synonyms

conservative
vsold-line
4.6

Does not want big changes and likes traditional values

centers more on being long-established within groups rather than general political stance
traditional
vsold-line
994 1.5

Following long-held customs and ways of doing things

is broader, applying to organizations and families beyond cultural or religious practice
old-fashioned
vsold-line
149 4.7

Not in style, like clothes or ideas from an earlier time

relates to long-established conservative views rather than simple out-of-fashion style
age-old
vsold-line
38 4.2

Very old and present for a long time

focuses on conservative views and established practice rather than merely great age
die-hard
vsold-line
22 7.9

Very unwilling to accept change or new ideas

is about having a long-established history and conventional standing rather than mere stubbornness
traditionalist
vsold-line
6 6.5

Holding strongly to old customs and resisting change

is more about long establishment and tradition in institutions or families
oldline
vsold-line
  • Literature
7.9

Part of a family or company that has been around for a long time and keeps old ways

has identical meaning but appears with a hyphen in this entry
traditionalistic
vsold-line
6.9

Being loyal to old customs and beliefs in religion and culture

emphasizes long establishment within organizations or families more than general customs
unprogressive
vsold-line
7.7

Not willing to accept new ideas and slow to change

focuses more on being established and conservative rather than active refusal to progress
dinosaurian
vsold-line
  • Offensive
9.1

Very old-fashioned and against change

is less extreme, describing established tradition rather than extreme resistance

Antonyms

251 4.8

Supporting new social changes in politics to make society fairer

How Traditional

reactionary
33 8.4
conservative
306 4.4
old-line
  • US
3 7.2
traditional
994 1.5
conventional
175 2.8

Surface Forms

old-line positive

Morphology

old-line = old + line (semi-transparent) = old + line

Formed by 'old' + 'line' (a compound), but 'line' here implies 'established tradition/organization', a sense that may not be immediately obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Old-line comes from old and line, where line means a 'family line' or a long 'series' of people and ways. So an old-line family, company, or party is one with long traditions and that is slow to change.