old guard

noun

variants or less commonly Old Guard

1

: the conservative and especially older members of an organization (such as a political party)

2

: a group of established prestige and influence

compare new guard

Examples of old guard in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Two nights later, the 25-year-old guard turned it up another notch, pouring in 21 points in 26 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs on 7-of-12 shooting and 4-of-9 from deep. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 2 Jan. 2026

The 23-year-old guard was initially injured during training camp. —Paulina Dedaj, FOXNews.com, 31 Dec. 2025

And recently, Addison Rae has been known to crash magazine Christmas, and the McInerneys hosted a hullabaloo for old guard literati not 48 hours ago. —Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025

The film blurs the line between fact and fiction by featuring clips from Clooney’s real movies and crediting them to the titular actor, insisting Kelly is one of the last A-listers in an industry shedding Hollywood’s old guard. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1841, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for old guard

• asgard
• backyard
• barnyard
• blackguard
• bombard
• brickyard
• canard
• churchyard
• coastguard
• courtyard
• debarred
• diehard