We reserve the right to judge for ourselves when told that something—­ especially a joke—­is “the very latest.”  So may we likewise discriminate among degrees of age. Old is applied to a person or thing that has existed for a long time or that existed in the distant past.  The word may suggest a familiarity or sentiment not found in ancient, which is used of that which lived or happened in the remote past, or has come down from it. Olden applies almost wholly to time long past. Antique is the term for that which has come down from ancient times or is made in imitation of the style of ancient times, whereas antiquated is the term for that which has gone out of style or fashion. Archaic and obsolete refer to words, customs, or the like, the former to such as savor of an earlier period though they are not yet completely out of use, the latter to such as have passed out of use altogether. Immemorial implies that a thing is so old that it is beyond the time of memory or record. Elderly is applied to persons who are between middle age and old age. Aged is used of one who has lived for an unusually long time. Hoary refers to age as revealed by white hair. Venerable suggests the reverence to be paid to the dignity, goodness, or wisdom of old age. Decrepit conveys a sense of the physical infirmities and weakness which attend old age; senile of the lessening powers of both body and mind that result from old age. Superannuated is applied to a person who on account of old age has been declared incapable of continuing his activities.

Sentences:  He liked to read romances of the ____ days.  Dana records
that he once saw a man so ____ that he had to raise his eyelids with his
fingers.  Many writers use ____ words to give quaintness to their work.  He
liked to sit around in his ____ clothes.  “The moping owl does to the moon
complain Of such as, wandering near her secret bower, Molest her ____
solitary reign.”  Some of these ____ sequoia trees were old before the
white man discovered this continent.  They are building the church in the
____ Roman style of architecture.  “Be not ... the last to lay the ____
aside.”  Many of Chaucer’s words, being ____, cannot possibly be understood
without a glossary.  Most churches now have funds for ____ ministers.  A man
is as ____ as he feels; a woman is as ____ as she looks.  The ____ old man
could scarcely hobble across the room.  What better proof that he is ____
do you ask than that he babbles constantly about what happened when he was
young?  “I am a very foolish fond ____ man, Fourscore and upward.”  They
revered the ____ locks of the old hero.  At sixty a man is considered a[n]
____ person.  That the earth is flat is a[n] ____ idea.  The young warriors
listened respectfully to the ____ chief’s advice.  They unearthed a[n] ____
vase. “____ wood best to burn, ____ wine to drink, ____ friends to trust,
and ____ authors to read.”  His favorite study was ____ history.  “Grow ____
along with me.”  “The most ____ heavens, through thee, are fresh and
strong.”

Pay, compensate, recompense, remunerate, requite, reimburse, indemnify.