geezer

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡizɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡiːzə/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːzə(ɹ)
• Homophones: geyser, Giza (in some dialects)

Etymology 1

From guiser. Compare also German Low German Kieser (“an obstinate person; brute; savage”).

Noun

geezer (plural geezers)

1. (informal, chiefly British, Ireland, Commonwealth, dated in the US) A male person.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:man

   • 1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 19, in Right Ho, Jeeves:

     You are a silly young geezer.

   • 2023, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, directed by Raine Allen-Miller, Rye Lane, spoken by Nathan (Simon Manyonda):

     See the hoverboard-riding geezer? This close to payin' a G for a shot of my cousin Calvin's molars.

2. (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, chiefly Cockney, slang) Someone affable but morally dubious; a wide boy.

   Synonyms: spiv, wide boy

   • 2002, “Geezers need excitement”, in Original Pirate Material, performed by The Streets:

     Geezers need excitement / If their lives don't provide 'em this, they incite violence / Common sense, simple common sense

   • 2003, Carlton Leach, Muscle, John Blake Publishing, →ISBN:

     He turned out to be a proper geezer who was willing to listen to my proposition that if he took the door at the Ministry, I would pay him £400 a month to mark my cards.

   • 2009, Dreda Say Mitchell, Geezer Girls, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     He was a bit of a geezer. Used to box with the Krays when he was a young 'un.

   • 2013, Charlotte Ward, Why Am I Always the One Before 'The One'?, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     When I'd first met Adam, at work when we were both 23, the fact that he seemed a little rough around the edges appealed to me. He was a bit of a geezer, a joker, one of the lads.

3. (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Term of address for a male.

   Synonyms: mate; see also Thesaurus:friend

   Hi, geezer, you alright?

4. (informal, chiefly Canada, US, sometimes mildly derogatory) An old person, usually a male, typically a cranky old man.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:old man

   • 1885, Corin, The Truth about the Stage:

     In the right-hand division lay the two old geezers, as Sandy styled the landlord and his wife.

   • 2000 August 25, Moira McDonald, “Outtakes”, in Seattle Times, retrieved 6 September 2008:

     The technical term for a female geezer is "old broad," but this is irrelevant, as nobody in Hollywood makes films about women over 55.

   • 2014, The Geezer Gallery, (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎^[1], retrieved 31 January 2014:

     Why Geezer? Why would a fine arts gallery choose a name that conjures images of a grumpy old guy sitting on the front porch hollering, “get off my lawn”?

5. (archaic, British, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) Wife; old woman.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:wife, Thesaurus:old woman

   • 1882, J. F. Mitchell, Jimmy Johnson's Holiday:

     He'd flirt and boat, but never wrote / A note to his old geezer.

   • 1886, Her Mother's Got the Hump:

     This frizzle-headed old geezer had a chin on her as rough well, as rough as her family, and they're rough 'uns.

Derived terms

• geezer teaser
• geezerdom
• geezerish
• geezery

Translations

male person

• Bulgarian: пич (pič)
• Dutch: gozer (nl) m
• Finnish: kaveri (fi), ukko (fi), äijä (fi)
• French: mec (fr) m, bougre (fr) m, gars (fr), gars (fr) m
• Georgian: მამაკაცი (ka) (mamaḳaci), კაცი (ka) (ḳaci), ბიჭი (ka) (bič̣i), ჯეელი (ǯeeli)
• German: Typ (de) m, Kerl (de) m
• Italian: tizio (it) m
• Macedonian: ба́тка m (bátka)
• Malay: Lelaki m
• Portuguese: tipo (pt) m (Portugal), gajo (pt) m (Portugal), cara (pt) m (Brazil), caboclo (pt) m (Brazil)
• Russian: мужи́к (ru) m (mužík), па́рень (ru) m (párenʹ), ма́лый (ru) m (mályj) (colloquial), чува́к (ru) m (čuvák) (slang), кент (ru) m (kent) (slang)
• Spanish: menda (Spain, colloquial)
• Swahili: manaume
• Swedish: snubbe (sv)
• Tagalog: lalake

informal address to a male

• Finnish: kaveri (fi)
• French: gros (fr) m
• Italian: capo (it) m
• Swedish: grabb (sv) c

informal: old person, especially male

• Bulgarian: дядка m (djadka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 老拙 (zh) (lǎozhuó) (usually in self-reference), 老頭／老头 (zh) (lǎotóu), 老頭子／老头子 (zh) (lǎotóuzi), 老東西／老东西 (lǎodōngxi) (derogatory)

• Dutch: oude (nl) m
• Finnish: äijä (fi), ukko (fi), taata (fi) (male); kääkkä (fi), käppänä, horisko (fi) (person)
• French: vieillard (fr) m
• Georgian: ბებერი (beberi), მოხუცი (moxuci), ბებრუხანა (bebruxana), ბებრუცუნა (bebrucuna)
• German: Knacker (de) m, Greis (de) m, alter Knacker (de) m, alte Schachtel (de) f (old woman)
• Greek: γεροπαράξενος (el) m (geroparáxenos)
• Hebrew: תֶּרַח m (téraḥ), חְתְיָאר (he) m (ḥatyár)
• Icelandic: karlfauskur m
• Italian: vecchiaccio m, vecchio rincoglionito m
• Japanese: 老人 (ja) (ろうじん, rōjin), 爺 (ja) (じじい, jijī), じじい (jijī) (derogatory), ばばあ (babā) (old woman)
• Macedonian: де́де n (déde)
• Malay: lelaki tua m
• Portuguese: velho (pt) m
• Russian: стари́к (ru) m (starík), старика́шка (ru) m (starikáška) (derogatory), старуше́нция (ru) f (starušéncija) (old woman, derogatory)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: starac (sh) m, čiča (sh) m, striček (sh) m (used by children to address unfamiliar male adults)

• Spanish: viejales, vejestorio (es)
• Swahili: kikaramba (sw)
• Swedish: gubbe (sv), gamling (sv)
• Turkish: ihtiyar (tr), moruk (tr)

Etymology 2

See geyser.

Noun

geezer (plural geezers)

1. (South Africa) Alternative form of geyser (“domestic water boiler”).

Anagrams

• greeze