Skip to the word

Added 10 October 2026

hoary

/hɔː.ɹi/ adjective

In Latin: cānus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about hoary at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Showing characteristics of age, especially having grey or white hair.
whose beard with age is hoar
Ancient.
hoary jokes
Covered with fine whitish hairs or down.

Origin

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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word