elder

1
2
as in superior
one who is above another in rank, station, or office as your elder in the company, he is within his rights to tell you what to do

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3
as in ancestor
one who is older than another it wouldn't hurt to show a little more respect for your elders

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

4

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of elder And because of growing shortage of workers who handle both house cleaning and care of elders and children, organizations that represent these workers welcome the rise of new technologies that do work in the home — provided that companies like 1X build robots that work well alongside human workers. Cade Metz, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025 Dunn said Black people have often used trees as a gathering spot, when in Africa elders gathered to make decisions and pass on oral history. Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2025 Besides reuniting with them, Wilmore, a church elder, is looking forward to getting back to face-to-face ministering and Williams can't wait to walk her two Labrador retrievers. arkansasonline.com, 15 Mar. 2025 Besides reuniting with them, Wilmore, a church elder, is looking forward to getting back to face-to-face ministering, and Williams can’t wait to walk her two Labrador retrievers. Marcia Dunn, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for elder
Recent Examples of Synonyms for elder
Noun
  • About 31% of the cases involve children under 5 years, 38% involve children and teens between 5 and 19, and 29% involve adults.
    PJ Green, Kansas City Star, 19 Apr. 2025
  • By and large, adults should always start by educating themselves before consuming any form of marijuana or hemp product and purchase products from licensed and/or regulated facilities.
    Greta Cross, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The contract also maintains its unusual provision allowing Sanders to disclose any athletically related outside income to his superiors verbally, thus enabling him to follow NCAA bylaws while ensuring that no public paper trail is created for these earnings.
    Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 28 Mar. 2025
  • Your career trajectory could change after seeking advice from one of your superiors.
    Valerie Mesa, People.com, 27 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Until recently, the ancestors of insects were thought to be more millipede-like and evolved once invertebrates began to live on land.
    Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Apr. 2025
  • During the Pleistocene, our ancestors lived through several different ice ages.
    Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 9 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Seidel and the university’s board of trustees, which met just before Wright was terminated as dean, have denied that his demotion was in retaliation for his refusing to transfer the funds.
    Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes.com, 8 Apr. 2025
  • But it was trashed by H. L. Mencken, editor of the Baltimore Sun and dean of America‘s literary critics.
    Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 6 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Who among us oldsters doesn’t enjoy a good VFX-costume parlay?
    Steven Zeitchik, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Feb. 2025
  • Folks back in the day had Yoda as their feisty oldster and the kids now have Maz. 36.
    Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 24 May 2023
Noun
  • For some reason, my boss has never questioned me or been suspicious of anything.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Apr. 2025
  • There is no doubt that Müller gave everything, but in retrospect, the Bayern boss will have to answer the uncomfortable question of whether starting the 2014 World Cup winner was the right choice in the first place.
    Manuel Veth, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Air Force veteran Mark Mendon of Blue Springs, Missouri, showed up to lend his support to the Satanic Grotto’s cause.
    Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 28 Mar. 2025
  • Citadel stars Game of Thrones veteran Richard Madden and Quantico’s Priyanka Chopra as elite spy agents who had their memories wiped years ago after encountering a shadowy syndicate known as Manticore.
    Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 28 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • For most people who want to build muscle, consuming around 1.5 to two times the federal recommendation is plenty, said David Church, an assistant professor of geriatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
    Alice Callahan, New York Times, 9 Apr. 2025
  • The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis projects a national shortage of 140,000 physicians by 2036, with that shortfall spanning multiple specialties, including primary care, obstetrics, cardiology and geriatrics.
    Nicole McCann, The Conversation, 31 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Elder.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/elder. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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