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Thursday August 27, 2009

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hoary [HOR-ee]

adjective

1. Gray or white with age.
2. Ancient; remote in time past.

• A hoary truism: You don't want to be the guy replacing the legend. No, you want to be the one who replaces the guy who replaced the legend.
  Michael Hiestand, "Collinsworth takes NBC handoff", USA Today, Aug 7, 2009
• Maybe it's time for a trip down the facial hair removal aisle. It must be next to the hair coloring aisle, which I never paid much attention to until hoary hairs began to increase.
  Rose Russell, "Rainy spring, aging, and Bo", The Blade, Apr 18, 2009
• The generous Thistle's life was spared In the home where the Bee first found her, Till she grew so old she was hoary-haired, And her snow-white locks with the silk compared, As they shone where the sun beamed round her.
  Hannah Flagg Gould (1788 - 1865) An American poet. The Bee, Clover, and Thistle (1851)

Origin of the Word

Hoary, approximately 1520, derives from English hoar "gray with age", from Old English har: gray.