hoarier; hoariest
1
a
: no longer humorous, interesting, or meaningful due to repetition over time : hackneyed
hoary clichés
You can't fight city hall, says the hoary adage.Jack Kroll
b
: extremely old : ancient
hoary legends
Of all the hoary old monsters, dragons are the most persistent, appearing everywhere from mall crystal shops to Disney movies.Donald G. McNeil, Jr.
2
a
: gray or white with or as if with age
bowed his hoary head
The trees in the orchard were hoary with lichen …Christine Schutt
b
botany : covered with fine grayish or whitish hairs : canescent
hoary leaves
hoariness noun

Did you know?

Hoary is an Old English word that comes from hoar, which shares its meanings. Both words refer to anything that is old or that has the whitened look of age.

Examples of hoary in a Sentence

a hoary tale of revenge He bowed his hoary head. a man hoary with age
Recent Examples on the Web We’re seated on one of the concrete benches near enough that our knees touch, both looking straight into the camera; both hoary and stern-eyed. Mitchell S. Jackson, New York Times, 20 Dec. 2023 Hawaii Hawaii has named three state mammals: the humpback whale, the Hawaiian monk seal and the Hawaiian hoary bat, designated in 2015. Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2023 Nothing chic and nothing stuffy and nothing raw; not the blaring screens of sports bars, nor the hoary formica of busy dives. John Cotter, New York Times, 20 June 2023 Other towering and tiny inhabitants include mountain goats, moose, bighorn sheep, Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, black bears, mountain lions, bobcats, bald eagles, hoary bats, and pygmy shrews, which are the same length as a golf tee. Andrea Sachs, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Apr. 2023 The most recent, the hoary bat, is the only remaining native land mammal in Hawaii. Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2023 Yet the hoary rituals of the coronation are a reminder of how — in a secular, multiethnic, digital-age society — the crown is fundamentally an anachronism. Mark Landler, New York Times, 3 May 2023 Back in 2017, their first ship of the line arrived in the form of The Play That Goes Wrong, a Noises Off–style farce based around performers messing up a fictional hoary stage play. Vulture, 19 Apr. 2023 Most were copies of official declarations, but some were purported to be clandestine and dangerous confessions.—Or were these hoary certainties no better than mere wishfulness? Cynthia Ozick, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Apr. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hoary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 2a

Time Traveler
The first known use of hoary was in 1530

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Dictionary Entries Near hoary

Cite this Entry

“Hoary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoary. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hoary

adjective
ˈhō(ə)r-ē How to pronounce hoary (audio)
ˈhȯ(ə)r-
hoarier; hoariest
1
: grayish or whitish especially from age
bowed his hoary head
2
: very old : ancient
hoary legends
hoariness noun

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