SKIP TO CONTENT

old maid

/oʊld meɪd/
/əʊld meɪd/
IPA guide

Other forms: old maids

An old maid is a woman who's not married, especially one who's very old. When you hear someone described as an old maid, you'll know it's a comment on the fact that she has no husband.

The term old maid is old fashioned and fairly derogatory — in other words, it's not nice to call someone an old maid. Back in the days when the idea of a woman remaining unmarried was a little bit shocking, most people had an old maid aunt or sister. And in the card game called old maid, which has been around since Victorian times, players try to avoid being left with the black queen, or the old maid.

Definitions of old maid
  1. noun
    an elderly unmarried woman
    synonyms: spinster
    see moresee less
    type of:
    unmarried woman
    a woman who is not married
  2. noun
    a card game using a pack of cards from which one queen has been removed; players match cards and the player holding the unmatched queen at the end of the game is the loser (or `old maid')
    see moresee less
    type of:
    card game, cards
    a game played with playing cards
  3. noun
    the loser in a game of old maid
    see moresee less
    type of:
    also-ran, loser
    a contestant who loses the contest
  4. noun
    any of various plants of the genus Zinnia cultivated for their variously and brightly colored flower heads
    synonyms: old maid flower, zinnia
    see moresee less
    types:
    Zinnia acerosa, white zinnia
    subshrub with slender woolly stems and long narrow leaves and flower heads with white rays; southern United States and northern Mexico
    Zinnia grandiflora, little golden zinnia
    subshrub having short leafy stems and numerous small flower heads with nearly round yellow-orange rays; Arizona south to Mexico and east to Kansas
    type of:
    flower
    a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
  5. noun
    commonly cultivated Old World woody herb having large pinkish to red flowers
    see moresee less
    type of:
    herb, herbaceous plant
    a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago

Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘old maid'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family