old maid

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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 • Oct. 30, 2023

One instance was fairly low stakes: she told my sister-in-law I had called her an old maid, which was not true.

From Slate • Aug. 20, 2021

Still, we suspect that she is a sad case, a solitary old maid gabbing to her niece about happier times.

From The New Yorker • May 1, 2017

“Your piano’s an old maid with a gray tabby on her lap,” Rosetta says bluntly.

From New York Times • Sep. 14, 2016

Miss Tynmore, the tiny, bright chirping old maid who gave Mama music lessons, was just like the canary whose cage hung in her kitchen.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith