Having an argument with my parents. At what age is someone "elderly"? I say both of them -- almost 82 and almost 77 -- are and I'm 100% right about that but they don't think they are. What's the cutoff?
Replies
I can say that we have stopped saying "the olds" and started saying "the olders"
aug 25, 2025, 8:59 pm • 0 0 • view
I’d say it’s a sliding scale, but I’d use 75 as a starting point, but it fluctuates based on the individual.
aug 25, 2025, 7:27 pm • 0 0 • view
Older than me
aug 26, 2025, 1:11 am • 0 0 • view
Elderly would be above the life expectancy. In the U.S. 81 for women and 76 for men
aug 25, 2025, 7:03 pm • 1 0 • view
40
aug 25, 2025, 6:58 pm • 1 0 • view
70, maybe 75. I'll let you know if I get there.
aug 25, 2025, 6:58 pm • 0 0 • view
I was curious so I googled this. Apparently, under federal law, an elderly person is anyone who is 62 years of age or older.
aug 25, 2025, 6:39 pm • 2 0 • view
65 is the obvious one, I can see arguments for 70. You can BE elderly without BEING elderly, if you're in great shape.
aug 25, 2025, 6:38 pm • 8 0 • view
See, now, I call what you're describing as the breakdown for being a "senior". Elderly, to me, is more of a description of frailty, limitation, risk, assistance requirements etc.
aug 25, 2025, 7:59 pm • 3 0 • view
I can see people using it that way, but the definition is just flat out "old" or "very old", and not any alternate definitions (yet) for you use of it. That said, I've seen M-W and Oxford English and others add in changing uses like this every year, so it could be fully legit use.
aug 25, 2025, 8:26 pm • 1 0 • view
That's interesting. I admit, it never even crossed my mind to consider a dictionary definition in Craig's question. It felt like he was going for the 'feel' part of the word in his particular situation.
aug 25, 2025, 8:48 pm • 0 0 • view
They've outlived both of my parents (both passed in their early 70s), so whatever the answer may be, they won. If you don't mind me asking, how'd this come up?
aug 25, 2025, 6:47 pm • 1 0 • view
Hanging out with my dad in the hospital for a procedure right now and I'm giving him shit about being old.
aug 25, 2025, 6:49 pm • 3 0 • view
Wow, salt in the wound, y0. Next thing, you'll be telling him to finish writing the book!
aug 25, 2025, 6:56 pm • 1 0 • view
I’m in my early 70s and in my set we use the word elderly to refer to someone who is frail, or beset by chronic ailments or whose mind is failing. For instance, your president would appear to be elderly.
aug 25, 2025, 7:23 pm • 0 0 • view
There's some wiggle room, but I'd say at 75 there's no level of physical conditioning or mental acuity that rebuffs the "elderly" tag.
aug 25, 2025, 6:43 pm • 1 0 • view
i think about this all the time. i think 88 is elderly
aug 25, 2025, 6:57 pm • 2 0 • view
wrong it’s 55
aug 25, 2025, 6:59 pm • 3 0 • view
you take that back
aug 25, 2025, 7:00 pm • 2 0 • view
37
aug 25, 2025, 7:02 pm • 0 0 • view
That’s a complex issue, but having recently dealt with aging parents, I’d say when they are overwhelmed with financial, medical, and day-to-day living issues, they’re elderly, and it’s time to get them some help. What that looks like depends on a multitude of factors.
aug 25, 2025, 7:20 pm • 0 0 • view
Kind feel like you should your parents alone about it.
aug 25, 2025, 10:20 pm • 0 0 • view
Either 65 or 70
aug 25, 2025, 6:44 pm • 2 0 • view
everyone ten years older than me is elderly. everyone ten years younger than me is a zoomer. these update constantly as I age.
aug 25, 2025, 6:58 pm • 24 0 • view
Man I am starting to see TikToks of current high school kids saying they wish they had been in high school in 2018 and it doesn’t make me feel very good
aug 25, 2025, 7:08 pm • 5 0 • view
why would they want to go to school in the future, that's silly
aug 25, 2025, 7:14 pm • 6 0 • view
I think once you pass life expectancy. Roughly 75 for men and 80 for women.
aug 25, 2025, 7:43 pm • 0 0 • view
70
aug 25, 2025, 6:39 pm • 1 0 • view
Trust me on this; as one ages, the “cut off” age recedes ever farther into the future…
aug 25, 2025, 6:46 pm • 1 0 • view
certainly over 75
aug 25, 2025, 6:39 pm • 2 0 • view
When you sell off the last of your Black Sabbath albums with no regret.
aug 25, 2025, 10:17 pm • 1 0 • view
When you're not carded for the senior deal.
aug 26, 2025, 1:44 am • 0 0 • view
30 years older than one's current age
aug 25, 2025, 6:59 pm • 0 0 • view
My grandma is 95. She still says she isn't elderly. I don't think most people are ever willing to saddle themselves with that label.
aug 25, 2025, 6:57 pm • 1 0 • view
Grands are ancients Parents are the elders I’m old Millennials lol
aug 26, 2025, 8:07 am • 0 0 • view
70 is elderly. 69 is not elderly.
aug 25, 2025, 7:05 pm • 0 0 • view
*cracks open an RC Cola* 30, dude
aug 25, 2025, 7:04 pm • 1 0 • view
FWIW... www.npr.org/2013/03/12/1...
aug 25, 2025, 6:39 pm • 0 0 • view
“Elderly” is not a definition of age but a definition of age-related physical and mental limitations. “Senior” is an age-specific designation independent of mental or physical acumen. At least, that’s how I see it.
aug 25, 2025, 6:46 pm • 14 0 • view
It's not a number, it's more of an issue of physical ability/mobility AND cognitive ability. Can the person get up off the ground without assistance-Can they hold/lift 25 pounds-Are they willing and able to learn how to use new technologies-Can they manage finances/monthly bills-Allowed to drive?
aug 25, 2025, 7:11 pm • 0 0 • view
Certainly anything past the average life expectancy for your country. I mean, you won! Take a victory lap and embrace the moniker.
aug 25, 2025, 6:42 pm • 1 0 • view
70
aug 25, 2025, 6:38 pm • 2 0 • view
70
aug 25, 2025, 8:58 pm • 0 0 • view
I'd say 80.
aug 25, 2025, 7:24 pm • 3 0 • view
70 seems like a good round number for it.
aug 25, 2025, 6:38 pm • 4 0 • view
This is a classic textbook vs observational definition divide. I view being elderly as a moving target depending on health and overall virility. Are most people on their 80s elderly? Absolutely. I would never call Mick Jagger is elderly. I’m going to trust your dad isn’t Mick’s condition though.
aug 25, 2025, 6:51 pm • 1 0 • view
I also view senior and elderly as not the same thing. My mom is 72. 100% a senior but I wouldn’t consider her elderly as she carries herself like someone much younger. My late father on the other hand looked 85 when he was 70. Elderly as fuck.
aug 25, 2025, 6:53 pm • 1 0 • view
When you can no longer sneeze with confidence that you won’t pull, tear, wrench, dislocate, or otherwise substantially injure a body part you are elderly.
aug 25, 2025, 8:29 pm • 0 0 • view
Crap. I’m elderly
aug 25, 2025, 8:53 pm • 0 0 • view
Tell me about it. And I’m ten years younger. Apparently I’ve been elderly since my early thirties.
aug 25, 2025, 8:54 pm • 0 0 • view
Legally? 60. Though perhaps as a social construct it is more flexible, in which case I think it's more a person who detaches themselves from the advancement of social norms and technology.
aug 25, 2025, 6:56 pm • 1 0 • view
65-74 is young-old 75-84 is old 85-94 is old-old 95+ is grace Elderly is a state of mind or what your kids call you just to be annoying.
aug 25, 2025, 9:20 pm • 3 0 • view
They are certainly seniors. But now more than ever, elderly is more a measure of capability. I can see how a person their age who is still able to be independent and care for themselves would bump up against the idea of being called elderly. It implies a certain level of fragility and inability.
aug 25, 2025, 6:52 pm • 2 0 • view
Springsteen is gonna be 76 soon. Is he elderly?
aug 25, 2025, 7:03 pm • 1 0 • view
5 years older than I am whenever this conversation takes place.
aug 25, 2025, 6:39 pm • 19 0 • view
When my mom turned 80, she said the old people were the people in her community that were in their 90s. Now that she is 91, she has finally accepted that she also is old.
aug 25, 2025, 6:45 pm • 9 0 • view
I think it’s 60 according to WHO. 🤷♂️
aug 25, 2025, 7:01 pm • 0 0 • view
80. That’s when the nagging health problems start becoming major.
aug 25, 2025, 8:52 pm • 0 0 • view
It's contextual, but rarely not dismissive--mild to virulent ageism. Whachugonnado? We've spawned, our time is over.
aug 25, 2025, 10:55 pm • 0 0 • view
When my grandmother was in her eighties, she used to volunteer at a care home, “helping the old folks,” as she put it- some of whom were younger than her. I think she considered “elderly” not as an age but a mindset.
aug 25, 2025, 8:59 pm • 3 0 • view
If you quality for Social Security
aug 25, 2025, 7:03 pm • 1 0 • view
65 or 70
aug 25, 2025, 6:58 pm • 0 0 • view
I feel that this is like the definition of, well, something else, in that you know it when you see it.
aug 25, 2025, 7:04 pm • 0 0 • view
Some questions better left unanswered. I’m kidding. I feel like it’s 65. Maybe 70.
aug 26, 2025, 4:54 am • 1 0 • view
Right now I say 47. Next year I’ll up it to 48.
aug 25, 2025, 7:00 pm • 1 0 • view
Anyone 5 years older than me 🤣
aug 25, 2025, 9:20 pm • 4 0 • view
When I was a kid it was 60. In Mrs. Dalloway (1925) someone aged 52 is described as elderly. 82 and 77 is for sure elderly.
aug 25, 2025, 7:04 pm • 2 0 • view
75
aug 25, 2025, 6:38 pm • 1 0 • view
When you can no longer get up off the floor from a supine position by yourself.
aug 26, 2025, 12:30 am • 0 0 • view
According to the WHO, 65 and above is considered elderly. But I think mental and physical acuity are also factors
aug 25, 2025, 6:40 pm • 2 0 • view
70 seems like the correct answer
aug 25, 2025, 6:38 pm • 4 0 • view
I'm 75 years old..........NOTE "old" not elderly. I still do the maintenance around the house and cook the meals. My spouse, 79 years old, still does the dishes every day and the laundry....again, old but not elderly. I consider elderly having to have someone come in to help you do everyday things.
aug 26, 2025, 4:12 am • 0 0 • view
Elderly is a state of physical/mental being. I don’t think it’s an age. My 72 father in law is not elderly. My 73 year old father is.
aug 25, 2025, 6:53 pm • 7 1 • view
Yes! You summed it up nicely. People in their 70s are a mixed bag. In their 80s, the ratios start to skew more "elderly" and by 90s, it's definitely the majority. But there are always outliers who are in condition--it's really a combination of physical shape, mental acuity and overall attitude.
aug 26, 2025, 4:51 pm • 0 0 • view
"Anyone older than me," I say to the elderly Craig Calcaterra.
aug 25, 2025, 6:58 pm • 4 0 • view
Why do you have to label them that way?
aug 26, 2025, 4:38 am • 0 0 • view
Craig, why are you arguing about this? Forget labels. Are your parents needing help? Are they hale and hearty? Focus on the state they’re in without using a negative label. And elderly is a negative.
aug 25, 2025, 7:30 pm • 0 0 • view
The elderly never think they are. Mine are a little older than yours and insist they’re not.
aug 25, 2025, 6:38 pm • 1 0 • view
I’m 55 and there are days that I think I’m already there.
aug 25, 2025, 7:22 pm • 1 0 • view
80 sounds about right
aug 25, 2025, 6:56 pm • 0 0 • view
aug 25, 2025, 11:23 pm • 0 0 • view
Over 77? My folks are “aging,” I’d say at 73 and 70.
aug 25, 2025, 6:38 pm • 1 0 • view
My neighbors in their 80s go visit ‘the elderly’ in a nearby nursing home each weekend. Turns out ‘elderly’ is a condition more than an age group - if you’re still sharp as a tack and able to live independently, you’re ‘a senior’ from 65-105. When you start to need help, you become ‘elderly’.
aug 25, 2025, 7:24 pm • 2 0 • view
When the first of these two things happen: (1) you [should] stop driving after dark or (2) the preponderance of your mail consists of medical-related papers and prepaid funeral plan ads.
aug 25, 2025, 7:37 pm • 1 0 • view
I’m 66 and my grandparents seemed ancient at my age (even though both grandmothers lived to 95) whereas I feel pretty much the same as always save for some weird shit like I’ve torn my meniscus twice without actually doing anything to tear it. So…80?
aug 25, 2025, 9:59 pm • 1 0 • view
51
aug 25, 2025, 7:01 pm • 1 0 • view
I think it depends on the age of the person saying it … to a 25 year old, 60 might be elderly…
aug 25, 2025, 7:32 pm • 1 0 • view
75
aug 26, 2025, 12:07 am • 0 0 • view
That's when things started going downhill for my folks, even though they lived to 89 and 86
aug 26, 2025, 12:08 am • 1 0 • view
75
aug 25, 2025, 6:38 pm • 1 0 • view