1
as in adult
a person of advanced years
in that Asian society elders are accorded great respect
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
3
as in ancestor
one who is older than another
it wouldn't hurt to show a little more respect for your elders
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in dean
the senior member of a group
as the elder of the contingent of living former presidents, he was accorded a place of highest honor at the ceremonies
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of elder
The bride is anxious too, since in her South Asian culture, standing up to her elders like that is considered a generally bad thing to do and creates longterm family tension.
—
Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Calls to change how COLA is calculated Several analysts and elder-advocacy groups are calling for a change in how the COLA is calculated because the current adjustment does not reflect retirees’ realities.
—Sarah Moreno, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
Rather than isolating elders to a clinical setting, Assisted Living Magazine encourages environments where leisure, purpose, and community are part of everyone’s daily life.
—Kaitlyn Gomez, USA Today, 23 Oct. 2025
In the book, an adult Mike Hanlon, the lone Loser who stays behind in Derry, interviews elders in search of information about the creature that resurfaces every 27 years.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elder
Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 29 Oct. 2025
Calls to change how COLA is calculated Several analysts and elder-advocacy groups are calling for a change in how the COLA is calculated because the current adjustment does not reflect retirees’ realities.
—Sarah Moreno, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
Rather than isolating elders to a clinical setting, Assisted Living Magazine encourages environments where leisure, purpose, and community are part of everyone’s daily life.
—Kaitlyn Gomez, USA Today, 23 Oct. 2025
In the book, an adult Mike Hanlon, the lone Loser who stays behind in Derry, interviews elders in search of information about the creature that resurfaces every 27 years.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for elder
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elder
Noun
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Ten-year-olds are saving their allowances for $70 moisturizers and $90 serums, mimicking influencer routines meant for adults.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Two adults and a pet were displaced Sunday afternoon after two houses caught on fire in Kansas City.—
Noelle Alviz-Gransee,
Kansas City Star,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
In Göring's cell, with his superiors pressuring him to find out what the Nazi figurehead might say on the stand, Kelley asks the military commander what drew him to Hitler.—
NPR,
NPR,
11 Nov. 2025
-
That simple reaction, rooted in empathy, quickly became a point of conflict with her superiors.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
His tío was a babalao (a Santería priest) who could conjure a spirit known as an orixá that could then take the form of its targets’ ancestors.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
10 Nov. 2025
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At Rokeby, museum interpreters explain how the Robinson's ancestors had become wealthy in part due to the slave trade, but were abolitionists in later generations.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Many of the homes that have collapsed were hundreds of feet away from the ocean’s shoreline when they were initially built, said Reide Corbett, the dean of the Coastal Studies Institute at East Carolina University.—
Samantha Delouya,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
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In his nearly 20 years in Miami as dean of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and of all things jazz in this town, Berg has proven his knack for bringing unexpected combinations of great artists together under one roof.—
Helena Alonso Paisley,
Miami Herald,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
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But Italian brainrot’s invisible massiveness, totally foreign to oldsters but beloved by children across continents and languages, is a compelling and chilling showcase of our frazzled internet culture landscape.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
10 Sep. 2025
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Uncle Herschel, the seated oldster in Cracker Barrel’s iconic logo, is not only a character from corporate lore, the founder’s real-life uncle, but a representative, even an aspirational, figure for a certain kind of American.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The fascination with boss-employee relationships will probably never fade.—
Emily Nix,
Fortune,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Another individual familiar with events said Turness, the boss of BBC News, has repeatedly made efforts to get the corporation to respond to Prescott’s memo.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
9 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The agreement includes bipartisan bills worked out by the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund parts of government — food aid, veterans programs and the legislative branch, among other things.—
Orianna Rosa Royle,
Fortune,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Mills and the Texans’ offense scored a touchdown on all three of their fourth-quarter drives, including the veteran quarterback capping a 14-play, 93-yard drive with a 14-yard run to complete the comeback and give Houston a 30-29 lead — its first of the game.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Nov. 2025
Noun
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What had long been the province of geriatrics quickly morphed into something performative and hyper-masculine, with podcasters hyping testosterone injections, influencers displaying stacks of supplements, and billionaires interested in blood plasma exchanges as a way to live longer.—
Anne Marie Chaker,
Time,
20 Sep. 2025
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With Spinal Tap, the joke never gets old, even if the hilarious-as-ever heavy metal trio is now bordering on geriatric.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
11 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Elder.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elder. Accessed 21 Nov. 2025.
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