elderly

/ˈɛldəli/adjective

Fairly old; describing a person who has reached the later years of life.

Example sentence

“An elderly couple sat feeding the pigeons in the square.”

Softer than 'old' but increasingly seen as distancing; style guides now often prefer 'older people' or 'older adults'.

Related words

forefatherA relative from generations long past; an ancestor.seniorRelating to the last year of study at a high school or university.descendantA person who comes from a particular ancestor, no matter how many generations later.adolescentA young person who has passed puberty but has not yet become an adult.lineageThe line of ancestors a person or family descends from, or the descendants that follow from a common ancestor.youthThe early stage of life after childhood and before full adulthood; sometimes the whole period from infancy to becoming an adult.