over the hill

Meanings

1. 1phraseidiom

   Past the best years of life, especially as a joke when someone reaches middle age or a milestone birthday.

   Grammar: Used after be or feel: I'm over the hill; not usually before a noun without hyphens.

   Patterns

   • be over the hill
   • feel over the hill

   My friends gave me black balloons for turning forty and joked that I was over the hill.

   He says he feels over the hill now that his knees creak.

   Don't call her over the hill; she just won a marathon.

2. 2phraseidiomdisapproving

   No longer as effective or useful as before, said of a person, a machine, or an idea.

   Grammar: Can be hyphenated before a noun: an over-the-hill actor.

   Patterns

   • be over the hill as something

   Critics wrote off the old boxer as over the hill.

   That laptop is over the hill and needs replacing.

   The coach insisted no player was over the hill until the whistle blew.

Common combinations

feel over the hill

I feel over the hill when my students mention music I have never heard.

over-the-hill gang

The over-the-hill gang of retired players beat the youngsters.

over-the-hill birthday

We held an over-the-hill birthday party with cards and cake.

far from over the hill

At sixty, she is far from over the hill.

already over the hill

Some think a singer is already over the hill at thirty.

Synonyms and how they differ

past it

Past it is a British informal phrase that is blunter and more unkind than the often playful over the hill.

washed-up

Washed-up suggests a finished career or failure, which is harsher than over the hill.

aging

Aging simply says someone is getting older, without the joking idea of decline.

Opposites

Word family

hill noun

a raised area of land, the image behind the idiom

overhill adverb

rare word for beyond a hill, not the idiom

Commonly confused: over the hill or over the moon?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “over the hill”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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