Meaning & use
long in the teeth
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformalhumorous
Old, especially too old for a particular activity or job.
Grammar: Used after a linking verb: 'He is long in the teeth.' It describes a person or, less often, an animal.
Patterns
- be long in the teeth
- get long in the teeth
- a bit long in the teeth
He's a bit long in the teeth to be starting a new career, but he's doing it anyway.
The horse is getting long in the teeth and can no longer race.
She joked that she was too long in the teeth to learn skateboarding.
Common combinations
- a bit long in the teeth
- He's a bit long in the teeth to be dating a twenty-year-old.
- getting long in the teeth
- The old dog is getting long in the teeth but still loves walks.
- too long in the teeth
- She felt too long in the teeth to apply for the internship.
- long in the teeth for something
- He is long in the teeth for such a physical job.
Synonyms and how they differ
- old
- This is the plain, neutral word; 'long in the teeth' is more playful and suggests being too old for something.
- elderly
- This is polite and formal, used mainly for people, not for being too old for an activity.
- over the hill
- This is also informal and means past your best years, but it is more negative and often about age in general.
Opposites
Commonly confused: long in the teeth or long in the tooth?
long in the teeth vs long in the tooth
This is the standard form of the idiom; 'long in the teeth' is a less common variant that means the same thing.
Practice
What does 'long in the teeth' mean in the sentence: 'At 55, she's a bit long in the teeth to be a pop star'?
Choose one answer.
'Long in the teeth' means old, often too old for something. The context of being a pop star at 55 shows the speaker thinks she is too old, not too young or talented.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “long in the teeth”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.