Meaning & use
old person
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
Someone who has lived for many years and is generally seen as being in later life.
Grammar: Plural is old people, not old persons; can sound blunt in formal contexts.
Patterns
- an old person's home
- help an old person
She stood up to give her seat to an old person.
The bus company offers cheaper fares for old people.
An old person living alone may need regular visits.
nouncountable
A person who is old in comparison with others in a group.
Grammar: Relative to context: the oldest person in the room.
Patterns
- the old person in the group
I felt like the old person at the party of college students.
Even the old person in the team ran the full race.
The oldest person in the village remembered the flood.
Word forms
| plural | old people |
|---|
Common combinations
- help an old person
- He helped an old person cross the road.
- old people's home
- She volunteers at an old people's home.
- seat for old people
- A seat is reserved for old people.
- treat old people with respect
- Children should treat old people with respect.
- a kindly old person
- A kindly old person gave us directions.
Synonyms and how they differ
- elderly person
- Elderly person is more polite and common in formal writing, while old person is plain and can sound blunt.
- senior
- Senior is a polite, often commercial term used for discounts and services.
- older adult
- Older adult is the preferred respectful phrase in health and social care writing.
- pensioner
- Pensioner is a British word for someone who receives a retirement pension, regardless of looks or health.
Opposites
Word family
- old adjective
- having lived or existed for a long time
- elderly adjective
- a polite word for old people
- ageing noun
- the process of getting older
- oldster noun
- an informal and old-fashioned word for an old person
Commonly confused: old person or older person?
old person vs older person
An older person is relative and can be polite; old person is more direct.
Practice
In formal writing about health care, which phrase is generally considered the most respectful?
Choose one answer.
Older adult is preferred in formal and care writing. Old person is acceptable but blunt, and the other options are casual or rude.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “old person”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.