hoary
UK /hɔː.ɹi/ · US /hɔɹ.i/ adjective
Forms hoarier hoariest
- adjective White, whitish, or greyish-white.
- adjective White or grey with age. “The old man bowed his hoary head in acquiescence.”
- adjective (zoology) Of a pale silvery grey.
- adjective (botany) Covered with short, dense, greyish white hairs.
- adjective (figurative) Old or old-fashioned; trite.
- adjective (obsolete) Remote in time past.
- adjective (obsolete) Moldy; mossy; musty.
Synonyms
albescent griseous whity gray / grey grayey / greyey grayish / greyish grisescent whitish grey-haired grizzled grizzly silver-haired white-haired elder elderly geriatric gerontologic gerontological long in the tooth matured grey gray gray-haired grey-headed gray-headed hoar rusty canescent
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”).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “hoary”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details