on in years | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic,mildlyeuphemistic)Old; advanced in age.1853,Charles Dickens,The Schoolboy's Story:Being rather young at present—I am gettingon in years, but still I am rather young—I have no particular adventures of my own to fall back upon.1893,William Butler Yeats, “An Enduring Heart”, inThe Celtic Twilight:More years went by, and his wife was dead, and he wellon in years.1905,George Bernard Shaw,Major Barbara, act 3:I am gettingon in years; and my partner Lazarus has at last made a stand and insisted that the succession must be settled.1909,F. Marion Crawford, chapter 20, inA Roman Singer:[O]ld as I am,—I do not mean aged, but wellon in years,—I believe in love still.2004May 24, Alice Park, “Health: Old Bones, New Hope”, inTime:Brittle bones can be more than just a bother for anyone who is gettingon in years.

Examples:

EN: He's a good sort, shy, getting on in years, and incredibly naive.
ES: Él es un buen tipo, tímido, de mediana edad y muy inocente.
EN: I'd have to transfer Woodward because I'm afraid he's too well on in years for an active command.
ES: transferí a Woodward temo que ya esta muy avanzado en años para ser un comandante activo.
EN: That's the first deal I've been in on in years.
ES: Es mi primer trato en años.
EN: As you yourself remark, I'm getting on in years and I haven't found a fit successor yet.
ES: Como has dicho, me hago viejo, y todavía no he hallado un buen sucesor.
EN: Things like that don't improve as we get on in years.
ES: Estas cosas no mejoran con la edad.
EN: But your aunt is getting on in years and I didn't want to disturb her unduly. So I thought it best to discuss this matter with you.
ES: No quería molestarla a su tía, y pensé que era mejor discutir este asunto usted.
EN: Or think because I'm getting on in years I'm old, all washed up.
ES: O porque creen que al sumar años estoy viejo, ya no sirvo.
EN: As a man gets on in years he wants to live deeply.
ES: Al ir envejeciendo, uno quiere vivir con más intensidad.
EN: Well, I may be getting on in years, but I still know what a man looks for in a woman.
ES: No es de extrañar que los hombres se vayan de la ciudad. Un hermoso cuadro de gracia, belleza y feminidad.
EN: Lupo may be on in years, but he's still a pretty rough guy.
ES: Lupo está envejeciendo, pero sigue siendo muy difícil.
EN: But, you see, I'm getting on in years. Not that I'll admit to a day over 50.
ES: Me hago viejo aunque todavía ando por Ios 50.
EN: They're getting pretty well on in years.
ES: Están bastante entrados en años.
EN: I have been already getting on in years Can't work
ES: Yo ya no puedo trabajar a causa de la edad.
EN: Getting on in years.
ES: Nos ponemos viejos.
EN: Trust like that must mean I'm getting on in years.
ES: Confiar de esa manera significa que me estoy poniendo vieja.

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).