hoary

WOTD – 19 June 2008

English

hoary (comparative hoarier, superlative hoariest)

white or gray with age
The old man bowed his hoary head in acquiescence.
- 1787, John Rippon, "How Firm a Foundation":
  And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
  
  Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
(zoology) of a pale silvery gray.
(botany) covered with short, dense, grayish white hairs; canescent
(obsolete) remote in time past
(obsolete) moldy; mossy; musty
old, or old-fashioned
- 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”:
  In its God-like prime, The Simpsons attacked well-worn satirical fodder from unexpected angles, finding fresh laughs in the hoariest of subjects.