Definition of VENERABLE

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old, ancient, venerable, antique, antiquated, archaic, obsolete mean having come into existence or use in the more or less distant past. old may apply to either actual or merely relative length of existence. old houses an old sweater of mine ancient applies to occurrence, existence, or use in or survival from the distant past. ancient accounts of dragons venerable stresses the impressiveness and dignity of great age. the family's venerable patriarch antique applies to what has come down from a former or ancient time. collected antique Chippendale furniture antiquated implies being discredited or outmoded or otherwise inappropriate to the present time. antiquated teaching methods archaic implies having the character or characteristics of a much earlier time. the play used archaic language to convey a sense of period obsolete may apply to something regarded as no longer acceptable or useful even though it is still in existence. a computer that makes earlier models obsolete

Examples of venerable in a Sentence

[Julie] Powell never met Julia Child (who died last year), but the venerable chef's spirit is present throughout, and Powell imaginatively reconstructs episodes from Child's life in the 1940s. Her writing is feisty and unrestrained, especially as she details killing lobsters, tackling marrowbones and cooking late into the night. — Publishers Weekly, 13 June 2005 Under her stewardship, the onetime boardinghouse came to be heralded as the South's most venerable family restaurant, a reliquary of old-fashioned cooking—collard greens enriched with fatback, creamed corn straight from the cob, fried chicken with a pepper-flecked crust—where the tables groaned beneath the weight of a quintessential midday repast, and history stood still on the plate for all to admire. — John T. Edge, Gourmet, January 2003 The lower the P/E, as a rough rule of thumb, the cheaper the stock. Though this guide to value has lots of exceptions, it remains a venerable market benchmark. — Jonathan Weil, Wall Street Journal, 21 Aug. 2001 I then descended to the Courts of justice, over which the judges, those venerable sages and interpreters of the law, presided, for determining the disputed rights and properties of men, as well as for the punishment of vice, and protection of innocence. — Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, 1726 the venerable old man was a cherished source of advice and wisdom for the villagers a venerable tradition that colleges have been maintaining for centuries

Recent Examples on the Web As old-school as that trick may sound in an age where gigabytes of digital contraband flow freely around the internet, Peng's case shows that the venerable dead drop remains a very viable tool of the spy trade. — Wired, "Hacker Lexicon: What Is a Dead Drop?," 29 Nov. 2019 For all its fart jokes and sight gags, The Good Place belongs to a venerable philosophical and theological tradition. — Matthew Robert Anderson, Quartzy, "“The Good Place” taps into our hunger for second chances and redemption," 27 Nov. 2019 Come see Minneapolis’ venerable comedy theater take on the polar vortex, aggressively enthusiastic Salvation Army bell ringers, Aunt Marge’s fruitcake and assorted other holiday traditions. — Dominic P. Papatola, Twin Cities, "Holiday Arts Guide 2019: Deck the stages with shows of the season," 24 Nov. 2019 Without landmark protection, the venerable structure was left vulnerable to the tender mercies of the New York real estate market. — John Freeman Gill, New York Times, "Restoring Brooklyn’s Queen of Department Stores," 22 Nov. 2019 His hair was cropped shorter than the old days, but showed no signs of age, unlike his beard, which was a venerable white. — Andrew Dansby, Houston Chronicle, "Rufus Wainwright acknowledges time, defies time at Heights Theater," 22 Nov. 2019 The venerable rapper and ‘00s crunk kingpin had gotten involved with the song in 2013, when a then-largely-unknown French producer named DJ Snake got in touch, requesting Lil Jon lay vocals over Snake’s sinewy beat. — Katie Bain, Billboard, "Songs That Defined the Decade: DJ Snake & Lil Jon's 'Turn Down For What'," 21 Nov. 2019 The toy company announced on Monday that the venerable author will be celebrated with two Pop! — Ashley Boucher, PEOPLE.com, "Stephen King Is Now a Funko Figure — and He Looks Like He Came Right Out of One of His Novels," 19 Nov. 2019 This month, a venerable organization, For Human Rights was also ordered to disband. — Author: Will Englund, Anchorage Daily News, "Russian group that spoke up for native people in the Far North is closed over a paperwork error," 17 Nov. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'venerable.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

2 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Venerable.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/venerable. Accessed 6 December 2019.