Phrase guide

old saw

noun · 1 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

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A cliché, saying, or overused expression, especially a proverb or maxim.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic

Examples

  • He's full of old saws, but he's not much for original advice.
  • 2017, Andrew Marantz, "Becoming Steve Bannon's Bannon", The New Yorker, Feb 13&20 ed. There’s an old saw about Washington, D.C., that staffers in their twenties know more about the minutiae of government than their bosses do.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: old chestnut, byword, saying, adage, saw, proverb, maxim, apothegm, apophthegm, dictum, gnome, gnomic saying, mantra, paroemia

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English olde sawe, old sawe, equivalent to old + saw (“a saying or proverb”).

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: gezegde — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • Finnish: vanha sanonta — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • French: dicton — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • French: adage — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • French: expression éculée — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • Galician: dito — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • German: Bauernregel — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • German: alter Spruch — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • German: olle Kamelle — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • German: alter Hut — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • Polish: stare porzekadło — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions
  • Swedish: talesätt — old saying, conventional wisdom, often based in superstitions