fogey

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈfoʊɡi/ UK /ˈfəʊɡi/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like foggy /ɑ/ vs /oʊ/

Meanings

1

noun
an old-fashioned or excessively conservative person

The old fogey grumbled that music had gone downhill since his youth.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an old-fashioned or... fuddy-duddytraditionalist conservativestick-in-the-mud

Opposites

progressivemodernist

Word family

Derived forms fogeyishfogeydom

Related forms fogy

Etymology

Of obscure origin, attested from the 18th century; possibly from earlier slang foggy ('bloated, moss-grown') or a Scots dialect word for an army pensioner.

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# fogey

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈfoʊɡi/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfəʊɡi/

## Meanings
1. an old-fashioned or excessively conservative person

## Examples
- The old fogey grumbled that music had gone downhill since his youth.

## Synonyms
- fuddy-duddy
- traditionalist
- conservative
- stick-in-the-mud

## Antonyms
- progressive
- modernist

## Derived Forms
- fogeyish
- fogeydom

## Related Forms
- fogy

## Etymology
Of obscure origin, attested from the 18th century; possibly from earlier slang foggy ('bloated, moss-grown') or a Scots dialect word for an army pensioner.

## AI Etymology
Fogey is traced as follows: Of obscure origin, attested from the 18th century; possibly from earlier slang foggy ('bloated, moss-grown') or a Scots dialect word for an army pensioner. The history is deliberately cautious: the proposed comparison is useful for orientation, but the wording leaves room for uncertainty rather than forcing a false certainty. In present use, it is used as a noun meaning "an old-fashioned or excessively conservative person", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes derivatives such as fogeyish and fogeydom and related forms such as fogy, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. Its semantic neighborhood is marked by fuddy-duddy, traditionalist, conservative, and stick-in-the-mud on one side and contrasts such as progressive and modernist on the other, locating the modern specialization without adding a new origin story.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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