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oldish

oldish

1 4.1
A little past middle age for people and slightly out of date for things
  • adjective
  • /ˈoʊldɪʃ/
translation icon : algo viejo
  • I had attempted to recruit a small army of strapping, oldish men to help me out, but we got rained out last weekend, and I just wanted to make some progress without having to coordinate another work party.
  • an oldish woman
  • an oldish man

Let's not forget man's old ish.

Examples

  • She wore her oldish coat while walking in the chilly weather.

  • I have read your blog for such a long time, but rarely post because I have children your age, and I am feeling oldish.

    Blog text (32)
  • People have asked, how can an oldish guy write from the point of view of a young woman?

    Blog text (11)
  • The two oldish ladies are inspecting a painting.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • As an oldish white guy, I'm really happy that we aren't the only people who get the job anymore.

    Blog text (13)
  • As we go into the entryway, a door opens a few inches and an oldish woman peers out.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • An oldish man, thin faced? — yes.

  • Roger Moore: I have an oldish PC that I will use exclusively to run my recording software, and I have an iPhone with minimal apps.

    Blog text (33)
  • "An oldish woman was leaning on a ratty fence, her hair done up in rollers.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The oldish man enjoyed telling stories about his youth.

Synonyms

old
vsoldish
1.0

A person who has lived for a long time

expresses a milder, not fully advanced, state of living many years
elderly
vsoldish
283 1.0

A person who is past middle age

indicates a lesser degree of age, not fully advanced in years
aged
vsoldish
84 1.3

People who are old and have lived a long time

suggests only moderate advancement in years rather than formal old age
of a certain age
vsoldish
14 7.2

A polite way to talk about someone who is not young, often middle-aged

is somewhat advanced in years but not yet clearly very old
agey
vsoldish
1 8.2

Looking or feeling old and worn

describes a milder stage of aging rather than clear age effects

Antonyms

85 3.1

Having the energy and fresh look of a young person

youngish
  • Informal
5 3.5

A person, group, or thing that is not very old

How Old

elderly
68 2.0
old
1.0
oldish
1 4.1
middle-aged
133 2.6
young
1.0

Surface Forms

oldish positive

Morphology

oldish = old (transparent) = old + ish

Formed by the adjective 'old' plus productive suffix '-ish' meaning 'somewhat', so the meaning is directly predictable.

Etymology

Oldish is old with the ending -ish, a small ending that gives the idea 'somewhat' or 'a little like', just as reddish means 'a little red'. So oldish means 'somewhat old', not very old but a bit older than usual.