# old as Methuselah

idiom · CEFR C1

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/old-as-methuselah
Updated: 2026-07-29

## Meaning

Extremely old; ancient.

## Examples

- That tractor is as old as Methuselah but it still runs.
- This library book feels old as Methuselah and the pages are turning yellow.
- He kept a laptop as old as Methuselah, insisting it worked fine long after the software stopped supporting it.
- My grandfather refuses to buy a new coat, even though the one he wears looks old as Methuselah and has holes in the pockets.
- The firm was run on procedures as old as Methuselah, ledgers kept by hand and memos typed on a machine that no repair shop in the city could still service.

## Origin

Methuselah appears in the genealogy of Genesis 5, where verse 27 records that he lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years — the longest lifespan given to anyone in the Bible, and grandfather to Noah. The enormous number, whatever it originally meant to the compilers of these lists, made the name a natural yardstick for great age, and it passed into everyday speech long before anyone worried about the arithmetic. To be as old as Methuselah in English simply means to be very old indeed, the comparison doing the exaggerating so the speaker doesn't have to.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.