Meanings
plural old fogies · alternative old fogy
- idiomaticAn old and overly conservative person.
"No; the Athletic. Tell you: Course they're always asking me to join the Union, but I always say, 'No, sir! Nothing doing!' I don't mind the expense but I can't stand all the old fogies."
1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter XXVIII, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLCSynonyms: ager, antique, badge-cove, cheeser, coffin dodger, crinkly, eld, elder
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn old and overly conservative person.
Origin
- Frenchfougueux“fierce or fiery”
- Englishold fogey
In 1811, an Old Fogey was a nickname for an invalid, wounded soldier; derived from the French fougueux (“fierce or fiery”). Alternatively, compare fogey.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
old fogey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/old%20fogey
“old fogey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/old%20fogey. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “old fogey,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/old%20fogey.
Source: old fogey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.