Word of the day! 9-12-08

Today's Word
hoary \HOR-ee\, adjective:1. White or gray with age; as, "hoary hairs."2. Ancient; extremely old; remote in time past.

"Once upon a time, memoirs were written by hoary chaps casting rheumy glances back towards their golden youth: no more.-- Erica Wagner, "Post-Post-Modern memoir", Times (London), July 19, 2000

"Had Mozart lived to the hoary old age of 73, he might indeed have fallen out of favor in an era besotted with Rossini, becoming a "largely forgotten, neglected, unperformed composer."-- Marilyn Stasio, "Crime", New York Times, June 23, 1996

"Mr. Weicker spends most of his time serving up hoary war stories and settling old political scores.-- Jeff Greenfield, "Politically Imprudent", New York Times, June 18, 1995

"Compare that with the elements of a musical in about 1920: the star in a cliche story that was merely a framing device for generic musical numbers, hoary joke-book gags, and the usual specialty performers in a staging more often than not by a hack.-- Ethan Mordden, Coming Up Roses

Hoary derives from Middle English hor, from Old English har, "gray; old (and gray-haired)."