Word of the Day

: October 19, 2015

oldster

noun OHLD-ster

What It Means

: an old or elderly person

oldster in Context

More and more oldsters are embracing the Internet and connecting and interacting using social media.

"I once saw an actress in a period piece wake a snoozing oldster in the front row by tapping his bald head smartly with her fan." — Michael Feingold, Theater Mania, 4 Sept. 2015

Did You Know?

Youngster has been used since the 16th century as a word for a young person with a lot of spunk. It has also long been used by maritime people as a word for a midshipman who has served less than four years. This use is connected with the Dutch word younker, which, like youngster, refers to a young person as well as a young seaman. Oldster came about as a word used to differentiate the inexperienced midshipmen, or youngsters, from the experienced ones. To be exact, in maritime contexts, an oldster is a midshipman of four years' standing. Charles Dickens gets credit for the earliest known use of oldster in the general sense of "an old person." In his 1848 novel Dombey & Son he wrote, "Mr Dombey … said of Florence that her eyes would play the Devil with the youngsters before long—'and the oldsters too, Sir, if you come to that,' added the Major…."