venerable

adjective

ven·​er·​a·​ble ˈve-nər(-ə)-bəl How to pronounce venerable (audio)
ˈven-rə-bəl
1
a
: calling forth respect through age, character, and attainments
a venerable jazz musician
broadly : conveying an impression of aged goodness and benevolence
encouraged by the venerable doctor's head-nodding
b
: impressive by reason of age
under venerable pines
2
: deserving to be venerated
used as a title for an Anglican archdeacon or for a Roman Catholic who has been accorded the lowest of three degrees of recognition for sanctity
3
: made sacred especially by religious or historical association
venerability noun
venerableness noun
venerably adverb
Choose the Right Synonym for venerable

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 Bond formerly co-owned the venerable Lemon Grass Restaurant in Loehmann’s Plaza shopping center and will open Chinese-Vietnamese concept Chu Mai with Kru Contemporary Japanese Cuisine founder Billy Ngo later this year. Benjy Egel, Sacramento Bee, 8 Mar. 2024 For instance, a committee within the International Union of Geological Sciences recently rejected a proposal to christen a new age in the venerable Geologic Time Scale. Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 7 Mar. 2024 The institution shifted across the expanding political geography of Islam, moving from Arabia to the venerable cities of Damascus, Syria, and Baghdad and later to Egypt. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024 YouTube has recipes from the Anti-Chef, America’s Test Kitchen and even the venerable Bon Appétit. Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 1 Mar. 2024 The rest of the field seemed almost as awestruck by the crowd, which according to the skiers seemed bigger and more attentive than at any European stop, save Oslo’s famed and venerable Holmenkollen. Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2024 The achievement comes just over a week after Nvidia became the third most valuable U.S. company, leapfrogging the venerable Google. Chris Morris, Fortune, 23 Feb. 2024 Right now, the venerable inn has more history than attention to detail on its side. Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024 Charles Osgood Charles Osgood, the venerable CBS news anchor and radio personality, died Jan. 23 at 91-years-old. Ew Staff, EW.com, 23 Feb. 2024

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

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin venerābilis "entitled to respect," from venerārī "to solicit the good will of (a deity), hold in awe, venerate" + -bilis "capable of (acting or being acted upon)" — more at -able

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of venerable was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near venerable

Cite this Entry

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

Kids Definition

venerable

adjective
ven·​er·​a·​ble ˈven-ər(-ə)-bəl How to pronounce venerable (audio)
ˈven-rə-bəl
1
: deserving to be venerated
often used as a religious title
2
: deserving honor or respect
a venerable leader
3
: impressive by reason of age
venerable pines

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