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
Writers and painters began to depict Elizabeth as a preposterous and vain old maid.
From Slate • Dec. 6, 2018
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
Estela considers herself a fat, hopeless old maid, while Rosali diets herself into a swoon to reach size zero.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2015
“Don’t be alarmed. I’m not one of the agreeable sort. Nobody will want me, and it’s a mercy, for there should always be one old maid in a family.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
