English Explanatory Dictionary

hoary

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj

White, whitish, or greyish-white.
White or grey with age.
Of a pale silvery grey.
Covered with short, dense, greyish white hairs.
Old or old-fashioned; trite.
Remote in time past.
Moldy; mossy; musty.

Pronunciation

/hɔː.ɹi/ /hɔɹ.i/ en-us-hoary.ogg

Word forms

hoary hoarier hoariest

Etymology

Possibly from Middle English *hori (suggested by horilocket (“hoary-locked, having hoary locks or curls”)), equivalent to hoar + -y. Alternatively, Middle English horilocket may represent Middle English hor (“hoar, hoary”) + ilocket (“locked”) rather than hori (“hoary”) + locket (“locked”).

Synonyms

albescent griseous whity gray / grey grayey / greyey grayish / greyish grisescent hoary whitish grey-haired grizzled grizzly silver-haired white-haired elder elderly geriatric gerontologic gerontological long in the tooth matured of a certain age old as Methuselah on in years over the hill senior superannuated ivy-covered preserved wintry gray-headed / grey-headed grey-haired / gray-haired grisly mouldy silvery-haired canescent antediluvian superseded clichéd played out anachronistic antediluvial antiquated antique archaic backward backwards behind the times cobwebbed cobwebby dated defunct desuete discontinued disused dootsie extinct expired fossilized Havishamesque

Related words

hoar

Derived words

hoarily hoariness hoary bamboo rat hoary bat hoary fox hoary fringe moss hoary marmot hoarypea hoary redpoll hoary rockrose hoary zorro unhoary

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