Meaning & use
pensioner
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableBritish
A person, usually elderly, who has stopped working and lives on regular payments from a pension.
Grammar: Countable: a pensioner, many pensioners.
Patterns
- a retired pensioner
- pensioner discount
Pensioners can travel at reduced prices on weekdays.
The pensioner next door waters my plants when I am away.
The government promised to protect pensioners from rising energy costs.
nouncountableformalold-fashioned
Someone who receives a regular allowance or payment from an employer, an institution or the state, not necessarily because of age.
Grammar: Often with a qualifier, such as a war pensioner.
Patterns
- a war pensioner
He was a war pensioner after losing a leg in the conflict.
The college supported several pensioners who had served it for decades.
Each pensioner received their payment on the first of the month.
Word forms
| plural | pensioners |
|---|
Common combinations
- state pensioner
- A state pensioner receives a weekly payment.
- old-age pensioner
- The old-age pensioner lived on a small fixed income.
- pensioner discount
- The museum offers a pensioner discount.
- retired pensioner
- A retired pensioner won the lottery.
- pensioner poverty
- Charities campaign against pensioner poverty.
- pensioner's bus pass
- She showed her pensioner's bus pass to the driver.
Synonyms and how they differ
- retiree
- Retiree is the usual American word and stresses having left work, whereas pensioner stresses receiving a pension.
- senior citizen
- Senior citizen refers to age, not to whether a pension is received.
- OAP
- OAP, short for old-age pensioner, is a British informal abbreviation that some people find dated.
- retired person
- Retired person is neutral and plain, with no link to a pension payment.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: pensioner or pension? pensioner or pensive?
pensioner vs pension
A pension is the payment itself, while a pensioner is the person who receives it.
pensioner vs pensive
Pensive means deep in thought and is unrelated to money.
Practice
Which sentence uses pensioner correctly?
Choose one answer.
A pensioner receives a pension, usually after retiring. The other sentences describe people who are paid by wages or study.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pensioner”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.