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

see also:

new guard

Examples of old guard in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On Friday, Lakers coach JJ Redick said the 21-year-old guard entered due to the lack of a dead-ball timeout in the first quarter, which adjusted Austin Reaves’ minutes and required the Lakers putting another ballhandler on the floor. —Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 28 Mar. 2026

The elder Pitino is part of college sports’ old guard. —Greg Rosenstein, NBC news, 26 Mar. 2026

After fueling a fourth-quarter comeback win for the Nuggets (43-28) on Friday night, the 33-year-old guard admitted the accolade has been on his mind as a source of motivation. —Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 22 Mar. 2026

Ahead of Oracle's fiscal third-quarter earnings release on Tuesday, the bank stood by its buy rating on the tech old guard. —Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 6 Mar. 2026

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