Phrase guide

old hat

adj · noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌəʊl(d)ˈhæt/
  • General-American: /ˌoʊl(d)ˈhæt/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -æt

1

adj

Meaning 1

Very familiar and unoriginal; common, hackneyed, out of date.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: banal, commonplace, cliché, démodé, passé, unchic, basic, cheugy, cringe, cringey, cringeworthy, dated, fossilized, inelegant, last year, normie, old, old-fashioned, old-hat, oldfangled, ossified, out, out of date, out of fashion, out of touch, outdated, outmoded, rinky-dink, tacky, uncool, unfashionable, unhip, unpopular, unstylish, untrendy

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Something regarded as very familiar and unoriginal, hackneyed, or out of date.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Narrower terms: old news, yesterday's news

3

noun

Meaning 3

The female genitalia.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, countable, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: muff, prat

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A woman treated as a sexual partner.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, broadly, countable, derogatory, slang

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Sexual intercourse.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic, broadly, slang, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aphrodisia, carnal knowledge, coitus, coition, commerce, commixtion, congress, conjunction, connection, consummation, conversation, copulation, coupling, intercourse, intimacy, intimate relations, intromission, joining, lovemaking, lustmaking, mating, mounting, pareunia, penetration, relations, sex, sexual congress, sexual intercourse, sexual relation, sexual union, swiving, union, the beast with two backs, the birds and the bees, boom-boom, chesterfield rugby, horizontal dancing, horizontal hula, horizontal jogging, horizontal mambo, horizontal refreshments, horizontal slam dance, how's your father, love, Netflix and chill, physical love, roll in the hay, Ugandan affairs, Ugandan discussions, action, ass, bang, barney-mugging, beef injection, bonking, cuntfuck, fucking, frig, fucky-fucky, hot beef injection, hump, humpa humpa, jig-jig, jiggy-jiggy, lay, legover, meat injection, nookie, old hat, pipe, plow, plough, poon, poontang, punani, pussy, ride, root, rumpo, rumpy-pumpy, seeing-to, sexy time, sexy times, screw, screwing, shag, skin, snu snu, tang, trim, hanky-panky, funny business, making whoopee, jiggery-pokery, monkey business, fooling about, fooling around, playing around

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From old + hat, possibly a reference to something familiar and well-used. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a connection to German alter Hut (“something familiar and hackneyed”, noun, literally “old hat”).

From old + hat, the significance being unknown.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: peruskaura — something regarded as very familiar, hackneyed, or out of date
  • German: alter Hut — something regarded as very familiar, hackneyed, or out of date
  • German: kalter Kaffee — something regarded as very familiar, hackneyed, or out of date
  • Polish: przestarzała rzecz — something regarded as very familiar, hackneyed, or out of date
  • Spanish: agua pasada — something regarded as very familiar, hackneyed, or out of date