venerable

adjective

ˈve-nər(-ə)-bəl How to pronounce venerable (audio)
Definition of venerablenext
1
as in venerated
deserving honor and respect especially by reason of age the venerable old man was a cherished source of advice and wisdom for the villagers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ancient
dating or surviving from the distant past a venerable tradition that colleges have been maintaining for centuries

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective venerable differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of venerable are ancient, antiquated, antique, archaic, obsolete, and old. While all these words mean "having come into existence or use in the more or less distant past," venerable stresses the impressiveness and dignity of great age.

the family's venerable patriarch

When might ancient be a better fit than venerable?

While in some cases nearly identical to venerable, ancient applies to occurrence, existence, or use in or survival from the distant past.

ancient accounts of dragons

In what contexts can antiquated take the place of venerable?

The synonyms antiquated and venerable are sometimes interchangeable, but antiquated implies being discredited or outmoded or otherwise inappropriate to the present time.

antiquated teaching methods

When is antique a more appropriate choice than venerable?

The meanings of antique and venerable largely overlap; however, antique applies to what has come down from a former or ancient time.

collected antique Chippendale furniture

When would archaic be a good substitute for venerable?

While the synonyms archaic and venerable are close in meaning, archaic implies having the character or characteristics of a much earlier time.

the play used archaic language to convey a sense of period

Where would obsolete be a reasonable alternative to venerable?

In some situations, the words obsolete and venerable are roughly equivalent. However, obsolete may apply to something regarded as no longer acceptable or useful even though it is still in existence.

a computer that makes earlier models obsolete

When could old be used to replace venerable?

The words old and venerable can be used in similar contexts, but old may apply to either actual or merely relative length of existence.

old houses
an old sweater of mine

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of venerable That's because the venerable vocalist and pianist, who died Feb. 24 at the age of 88 in New York, never actually set a date with the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the organization said Monday in a social media post that paid tribute to Flack. —Jessica Wang, EW.com, 25 Feb. 2025 The venerable Comédie-Française was founded in 1680, when a troupe begun decades earlier by the playwright Molière merged with a rival institution. —Laura Cappelle, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025 Using the Rufus tool Rufus is a venerable open source app for creating bootable USB media for both Windows and Linux. —Ars Technica, 19 Feb. 2025 The venerable travel outfitter Abercrombie & Kent recently announced the launch of A&K Private Estates, a collection of five lavish villas located in some of Tuscany’s most picturesque towns. —Passport By Forbeslife, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for venerable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for venerable
  1. ancient
  2. revered
  3. old
  4. respectable
  5. antique
  6. medieval
Adjective
  • From summiting Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji to trekking through Madeira’s mystical, ancient Fanal Forest, my love for hiking has taken me across the globe.
    — Amelia McBride, Travel + Leisure, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Thus, the team concluded that the late Devonian and late Ordovician extinction events, which respectively took place some 372 and 445 million years ago, were likely caused by such ancient supernovae.
    — Bruce Dorminey, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
Definition of ancient
Adjective
  • Loading your audio article From a popular Bay Area jazz/swing crooner to a celebration of Pi Day and a revered chamber quartet playing the stately Kohl Mansion, there is a lot to see and do in the Bay Area this weekend.
    — Randy McMullen, The Mercury News, 13 Mar. 2025
  • Kansas City musician Danny Cox, a revered figure who embodied the spirit of music and the Civil Rights Movement, has died.
    — Laura Ziegler, Kansas City Star, 8 Mar. 2025
Definition of revered
Adjective
  • Every year in the US, there are approximately 35,000 ER visits due to unintentional medication overdoses among children under 5 years old.
    — Katia Hetter, CNN, 1 Mar. 2025
  • The other part of him, the innie, is for all intents and purposes 2 1/2 years old.
    — Gary Levin, USA TODAY, 1 Mar. 2025
Definition of old
Adjective
  • Collecting old art was posh and respectable, but in an America still scandalized by the sight of breasts, collecting modern art was outrageous.
    — Susan Tallman, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2025
  • The ThinkCentre's display isn't the brightest but matches the IdeaCentre in color coverage, with respectable results for Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 despite not being designed for creative-focused tasks.
    — PCMAG, PCMAG, 4 Mar. 2025
Definition of respectable
Adjective
  • At Chloé, the faux fur tassels and antique gold talisman charms successfully transitioned the brand’s bohemian energy from spring to fall.
    — Sandra Salibian, WWD, 17 Mar. 2025
  • Loveless is drawn to antique mirrors for a variety of reasons.
    — Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 14 Mar. 2025
Definition of antique
Adjective
  • One image shows God Doom holding court in his white robes, while another shows Hulk in what appears to be a medieval version of Battleworld's Greenland - in the comics, Greenland is made up of warring tribes of green, red, and gray Hulks.
    — Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 12 Mar. 2025
  • Covilhã, Portugal Built within medieval fortified walls, included in Portugal's Historical village route, Covilhã is located in central Portugal at an altitude of 2,359 feet.
    — Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
Definition of medieval

Browse Nearby Words

venerable
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Venerable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/venerable. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on venerable

Nglish: Translation of venerable for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about venerable

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
dog-in-disguise
Rhyme Disguise Quiz Pair up words that look different but sound alike.
See All