geezer

English

Etymology

From guiser. Compare also German Low German Kieser (“an obstinate person; brute; savage”).

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡizɚ/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈɡiːzə/
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -iːzə(ɹ)
Homophones: geyser, Giza (in some dialects)

Noun

geezer (plural geezers)

(informal, chiefly Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, dated in the US) A male person.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:man
- 1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 19, in Right Ho, Jeeves:
  You are a silly young geezer.
(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, chiefly Cockney, slang) Someone affable but morally dubious; a wide boy.
Synonyms: spiv, wide boy
- 2002, “Geezers need excitement”, in Original Pirate Material, performed by The Streets:
  Geezers need excitement / If their lives don't provide 'em this, they incite violence / Common sense, simple common sense
- 2003, Carlton Leach, Muscle, John Blake Publishing, →ISBN:
  He turned out to be a proper geezer who was willing to listen to my proposition that if he took the door at the Ministry, I would pay him £400 a month to mark my cards.
- 2009, Dreda Say Mitchell, Geezer Girls, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
  He was a bit of a geezer. Used to box with the Krays when he was a young 'un.
- 2013, Charlotte Ward, Why Am I Always the One Before 'The One'?, Hachette UK, →ISBN:
  When I'd first met Adam, at work when we were both 23, the fact that he seemed a little rough around the edges appealed to me. He was a bit of a geezer, a joker, one of the lads.
(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Term of address for a male.
Synonyms: mate; see also Thesaurus:friend
Hi, geezer, you alright?
(informal, chiefly Canada, US, sometimes mildly derogatory) An old person, usually a male, typically a cranky old man.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:old man
- 1885, Corin, The Truth about the Stage:
  In the right-hand division lay the two old geezers, as Sandy styled the landlord and his wife.
- 2000, Moira McDonald, "Outtakes," Seattle Times, 25 Aug. (retrieved 6 Sep. 2008):
  The technical term for a female geezer is "old broad," but this is irrelevant, as nobody in Hollywood makes films about women over 55.
- 2014, The Geezer Gallery, "," (retrieved 31 Jan 2014):
  Why Geezer? Why would a fine arts gallery choose a name that conjures images of a grumpy old guy sitting on the front porch hollering, “get off my lawn”?
(South Africa) Alternative form of geyser (“domestic water boiler”)
(archaic, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, slang) Wife; old woman.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:wife, Thesaurus:old woman
- 1882, J. F. Mitchell, Jimmy Johnson's Holiday:
  He'd flirt and boat, but never wrote / A note to his old geezer.
- 1886, Her Mother's Got the Hump:
  This frizzle-headed old geezer had a chin on her as rough well, as rough as her family, and they're rough 'uns.

Derived terms

geezerdom
geezerish
geezery

Translations

male person

Bulgarian: пич (pič)
Dutch: gozer (nl) m
Finnish: kaveri (fi), ukko (fi), äijä (fi)
French: mec (fr) m, bougre (fr) m, gars (fr), gars (fr) m
Georgian: მამაკაცი (ka) (mamaḳaci), კაცი (ka) (ḳaci), ბიჭი (ka) (bič̣i), ჯეელი (ǯeeli)
German: Typ (de) m, Kerl (de) m
Italian: tizio (it) m
Malay: Lelaki m
Portuguese: tipo (pt) m (Portugal), gajo (pt) m (Portugal), cara (pt) m (Brazil), caboclo (pt) m (Brazil)
Russian: мужи́к (ru) m (mužík), па́рень (ru) m (párenʹ), ма́лый (ru) m (mályj) (colloquial), чува́к (ru) m (čuvák) (slang), кент (ru) m (kent) (slang)
Spanish: menda (Spain, colloquial)
Swahili: manaume
Swedish: snubbe (sv)
Tagalog: lalake

informal address to a male

Finnish: kaveri (fi)
French: gros (fr) m
Italian: capo (it) m
Swedish: grabb (sv) c

informal: old person, especially male

Bulgarian: дядка m (djadka)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 老拙 (zh) (lǎozhuó) (usually in self-reference), 老頭／老头 (zh) (lǎotóu), 老頭子／老头子 (zh) (lǎotóuzi), 老東西／老东西 (lǎodōngxi) (derogatory)
Dutch: oude (nl) m
Finnish: äijä (fi), ukko (fi), taata (fi) (male); kääkkä (fi), käppänä, horisko (fi) (person)
French: vieillard (fr) m
Georgian: ბებერი (beberi), მოხუცი (moxuci), ბებრუხანა (bebruxana), ბებრუცუნა (bebrucuna)
German: Knacker (de) m, Greis (de) m, alter Knacker (de) m, alte Schachtel (de) f (old woman)
Greek: γεροπαράξενος (el) m (geroparáxenos)
Hebrew: תֶּרַח‎ m (téraḥ), חְתְיָאר‎ (he) m (ḥatyár)
Icelandic: karlfauskur m
Italian: vecchiaccio m, vecchio rincoglionito m
Japanese: 老人 (ja) (ろうじん, rōjin), 爺 (ja) (じじい, jijī), じじい (jijī) (derogatory), ばばあ (babā) (old woman)
Malay: lelaki tua m
Portuguese: velho (pt) m
Russian: стари́к (ru) m (starík), старика́шка (ru) m (starikáška) (derogatory), старуше́нция (ru) f (starušéncija) (old woman, derogatory)
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: starac (sh) m, čiča (sh) m, striček (sh) m (used by children to address unfamiliar male adults)
Spanish: viejales, vejestorio (es)
Swahili: kikaramba (sw)
Swedish: gubbe (sv), gamling (sv)
Turkish: ihtiyar (tr), moruk (tr)

device for boiling water — see geyser

Anagrams

greeze