Definition of HOARY

hoary

Adjective Satellite

  • showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair; -Coleridge
    • "nodded his hoary head"
  • ancient
    • "hoary jokes"
  • covered with fine whitish hairs or down

Adj

  • White, whitish, or greyish-white.
  • White or grey with age.
  • Of a pale silvery grey.
  • Covered with short, dense, greyish white hairs.
  • Old or old-fashioned; trite.
  • Remote in time past.
  • Moldy; mossy; musty.

Adjective

  • White or grayish, especially with age or frost.

Examples

  • He found the word ’HOARY’ in the ancient dictionary, covered in a thin layer of dust.
  • The old man bowed his hoary head in acquiescence.

Origin / Etymology

Possibly from Middle English *hori (suggested by horilocket (“hoary-locked, having hoary locks or curls”)), equivalent to hoar + -y. Alternatively, Middle English horilocket may represent Middle English hor (“hoar, hoary”) + ilocket (“locked”) rather than hori (“hoary”) + locket (“locked”).

Synonyms

canescent, gray, gray-haired, gray-headed, grey, grey-haired, grey-headed, grizzly, hoar, rusty, white-haired, albescent, bygone, elder, elderly, foregone, geriatric, gerontologic, gerontological, griseous, grizzled, ivy-covered, long in the tooth, matured, of a certain age, old as Methuselah, on in years, over the hill, preserved, senior, silver-haired, superannuated, whity, wintry

Scrabble Score: 11

hoary: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
hoary: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
hoary: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 9

hoary: valid Words With Friends Word