mossback

Definition of mossbacknext
as in conservative
a person with old-fashioned ideas those mossbacks at the intelligence agency didn't get the memo that the world had changed

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mossback This man performed in all of Shakespeare’s plays, Assumed all parts from mossbacks to boys young. Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mossback
Noun
  • Vermeule—a former clerk for Scalia—proposes that conservatives should read the Constitution’s ambiguous phrases and general structure in an openly moral way, drawing on principles grounded in the nature and purposes of government.
    Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 2 July 2026
  • In her final opinion as a Supreme Court justice in 2005, Sandra Day O’Connor – a judicial conservative – reflected on the importance of church-state separation to guarantee full religious freedom.
    Steven K. Green, The Conversation, 2 July 2026
Noun
  • And a quieter sky genuinely matters to veterans with PTSD, to parents of sensory-sensitive kids, and to every dog that spends the Fourth wedged under a bed.
    Robert J. Szczerba, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • Condrey is a writer, veteran and formerly homeless resident of San Diego.
    David Lee Condrey, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 June 2026
Noun
  • Working with the British Antarctic Survey, Thomson was mapping the area's rock layers and collected marine reptile fossils to help with future dating efforts.
    ABC News, ABC News, 29 June 2026
  • Trends in recent decades point to an overall warming of average temperatures in winter as well as fall, spring and summer, from human activities such as fossil-fuel burning that release heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere.
    Evgenia Anastasakos, Chicago Tribune, 29 June 2026
Noun
  • There’s no old fogey-ness to Lorne.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 Apr. 2026
  • For the benefit of us old fogies?
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 30 Mar. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Mossback.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mossback. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster