old maid

noun

1. Disparaging and Offensive. an elderly or confirmed spinster.
2. a fussy, timid, prudish person.
3. Cards.
   1. a simple game, played with a deck having one card removed, in which the players draw from one another to match pairs and the one holding an odd queen at the end loses.
   2. the loser of such a game.

old maid

noun

1. a woman regarded as unlikely ever to marry; spinster
2. informal.
   a prim, fastidious, or excessively cautious person
3. a card game using a pack from which one card has been removed, in which players try to avoid holding the unpaired card at the end of the game

Sensitive Note

The meaning “a spinster” is used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting. It puts emphasis on the woman’s advanced age and assumed inability to ever attract a husband. spinster.

Derived Forms

• ˌold-ˈmaidish, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of old maid¹

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

If they chance upon the foul water, they are set to marry a widow or widower and if they choose the empty dish "the person is destined to be a bachelor or an old maid".

From Salon

I thought about the days when Great-great-aunt Florentine played old maid with me and Tidings.

From Literature

“But then, to be an old maid at last, like Miss Bates!”

From Literature

“Right, Jo. Better be happy old maids than unhappy wives, or unmaidenly girls, running about to find husbands,” said Mrs. March decidedly.

From Literature

The younger girls formed hopes of coming out a year or two sooner than they might otherwise have done; and the boys were relieved from their apprehension of Charlotte’s dying an old maid.

From Literature