age fright

noun

The fear of getting older.

Meanings

nounage fright (uncountable)

alternative age-fright · alternative agefright

  1. rareuncountableThe fear of getting older.

    I don't know if this is incurable stage fright, or age fright!

    2024, Emily A. Rollie, Milestones in Staging Contemporary Genders and Sexualities
    4 more examples

    Suggest a sermon or presentation on an appropriate topic such as "Accept Your Age,” or “Overcoming Age Fright."

    1988, Dorothea Marvin Nyberg, Life Support, page 137

    In terms of onstage creative work, I'm working on an autobiographical piece called Age Fright, which parallels age fright and stage fright and is part of my larger research project looking at ageing, intimacy and fear.

    2013, Caoimhe McAvinchey (editor), Performance and Community: Commentary and Case Studies

    He looked at the mirror - the sight made him grin, It could not be clearer...age-fright was no sin.

    2014, James Clark, Gone Secular & Other Poems, page 35

    I developed Getting On, a back stage tour, a workshop guide for dealing with elders on issues of ‘agefright’ created in collaboration with Leslie Hill and Helen Paris at Stanford University.

    2019, Lois Weaver, English and Drama

    Synonyms: gerascophobia, gerontophobia

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe fear of getting older.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

age fright. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/age%20fright

MLA

“age fright.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/age%20fright. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “age fright,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/age%20fright.

Source: age fright on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.