Dictionary

fogey en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈfəʊɡi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈfoʊɡi/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from Scots foggie, fogie (noun), perhaps derived from Scots foggie (“covered with moss or lichen; mossy", hence "old, antiquated, decrepit”, adjective), from Scots fog (“moss; lichen”), equivalent to fog (“moss”) + -y. Further origin uncertain. More at fog.

Meanings

1. A dull person (especially an old man) who is behind the times, holding antiquated, over-conservative views.
   • "You've heard of him, of course?" "I'm rather an old fogey, as Caroline tells me," I said, "but I have just heard of him." 1926, Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd:
   • [T]he old fogies, as you call them, at Bays’s, are some of the first gentlemen in England, of whom you youngsters had best learn a little manners, and a little breeding, and a little modesty. 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 45, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
   • We attribute the use of the word Fogey, by so accomplished a scholar as Mr. Beecher, to the influence of Hoosierism, acquired during a long residence in Indiana—and as used by him, applied to human beings, “old Fogeys” in a serious discourse, meaning by inference, a class of independent old gentlemen, who understand matters and things—are peculiarly prejudiced in their own forms and uses; and who adhere to the old paths of conformity to established customs. 1852 August 14, “Editor’s Table”, in The Opal, volume II, number 8, Utica, New York, United States, page 221:

Forms

Deriveds

fogeyish · old fogey · fogeyhood · young fogey · fogeyism · fogeydom

Synonyms

old fogey

Translations (31)

fr vieux croûton (dull old fellow) · pl leśny dziadek (dull old fellow) · cs suchar (dull old fellow) · fr baderne (dull old fellow) · pl stary pryk (dull old fellow) · nl oude zeur (dull old fellow) · cmn 老頑固 /老顽固 (dull old fellow) · nl ouderwets iemand (dull old fellow) · fi fossiili (dull old fellow) · nl fossiel (dull old fellow) · pl moherowy beret (dull old fellow) · cmn 古董 (dull old fellow) · hu vénember (dull old fellow) · fr vieux schnock (dull old fellow) · ru динозавр (dull old fellow) · fi kalkkis (dull old fellow) · fi jäärä (dull old fellow) · fi vanha jäärä (dull old fellow) · sv stofil (dull old fellow) · nl sok (dull old fellow) · cs šosák (dull old fellow) · fr barbon (dull old fellow) · it matusa (dull old fellow) · fr vieille bique (dull old fellow) · cmn 老糊塗 /老糊涂 (dull old fellow) · ru старый пень (dull old fellow) · hu tata (dull old fellow) · it parruccone (dull old fellow) · ca baderna (dull old fellow) · it mummia (dull old fellow) · es carcamal (dull old fellow)