Chinese word

老头儿

Pronunciation

Pinyinlǎo tóur

Meaning

  • nounold man

Example

那个老头儿每天早上都来公园散步。nà ge lǎo tóur měi tiān zǎo shàng dōu lái gōng yuán sàn bù

That old man comes to the park for a walk every morning.

Illustration for 老头儿 (old man)

More examples

他常常跟老头儿一起散步。tā cháng cháng gēn lǎo tóur yì qǐ sàn bù

He often takes a walk with an old man.

Core concept

An older male figure in ordinary conversation, with the speaker's tone able to make the label warm, playful, or mildly dismissive.

Common phrases

  • 那个老头儿nà ge lǎo tóur

    that old man

  • 跟老头儿聊天gēn lǎo tóur liáo tiān

    chat with an old man

Similar words

老人lǎo rén: A neutral everyday term for a person who is elderly, male or female.
爷爷yé yé: The usual kinship term for a grandfather, used by a grandchild when speaking to him.
老年人lǎo nián rén: A somewhat formal term for older people, used often in written language.

Definition in Chinese

指年纪较大、通常指男性的口语称呼，多用于第三者描述，语气可亲切、戏谑或略带贬义。zhǐ nián jì jiào dà tōng cháng zhǐ nán xìng de kóu yǔ chēng hū duō yòng yú dì sān zhě miáo shù yǔ qì kě qīn qiè xì xuè huò lüè dài biǎn yì

Word origin

老 (lǎo, "old") + 头 (tóu, "head") combines an age word with a body-part word that can colloquially point to a person, while 儿化 (érhuà, "rhotacized ending") marks the northern spoken form.

Usage tips

  • English speakers may hear "old man" as a neutral description or a familiar form of address, but this Chinese word is safer when used about a third person and interpreted through the speaker's tone.

Other meanings

  • elderly personnoun

Opposites

  • 年轻人nián qīng rényoung personnoun

Related words

  • 老头lǎo tóuold mannoun

Word lists with this word