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''fogey'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260320113731-00-⌔
fogey - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Noun
fogey (plural fogies or fogeys)
- A dull person (especially an old man) who is behind the times, holding antiquated, over-conservative views.
- ✤ Synonym: old fogey
- ✤ [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.1
- ✤ 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.2
- ✤ “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.”3
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.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA: /ˈfoʊɡi/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈfəʊɡi/
- Audio (Southern England): 🔊
- Rhymes: (General American) -oʊɡi, (Received Pronunciation) -əʊɡi
Printed 2026-06-28.
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Link to original Footnotes
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 45, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC: ↩
1852 August, “Editor’s Table”, in The Opal, volume II, number 8, Utica, New York, United States, page 221: ↩
1926, Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: ↩
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