elder statesman

elder statesman

1. One who is experienced and successful in a particular area. Because Michael's the elder statesman in our department, everyone always goes to him with questions.
2. One who is no longer working in a particular job but is still considered a valuable resource. Even though he's been retired for a year, Joe is still the elder statesman that gives us all feedback on our manuscripts.
See also: elder, statesman
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

an ˌelder ˈstatesman


1 a person who has had an important job in government, business, etc. and who, though he/she may have retired (= stopped work), is still likely to be asked for his/her opinion and advice
2 any experienced and respected person whose advice or work is valued: He is regarded as TV’s elder statesman, having worked for the giant CBS network for nearly twenty years.
See also: elder, statesman
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • an elder statesman
  • elder
  • statesman
  • a past master
  • be certain that (something will happen or is the case)
  • It is the last straw that breaks the camel's back
  • 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
  • Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
  • deja
  • déjà vu
References in periodicals archive
But then, most of Eliot's dramas, and all that have a contemporary setting, are fixated on at least one Greek tragedy: The Family Reunion is paired with Aeschylus's Eumenides, The Confidential Clerk with Euripides' Ion, The Cocktail Party with Euripides' Alcestis, and The Elder Statesman with Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus, Oedipus Tyrannus, and Antigone.
In death, he was the intellectual titan who had foreseen and ushered in the end of the Cold War, the architect of domestic prosperity, the sage elder statesman who had overcome the "tragedy" of Watergate.
Republicans, meanwhile, not knowing what else to do with him, have begun to treat him as a venerable elder statesman. The waning days of the hapless Bush administration saw many strange sights, but none stranger than Thurmond's being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the first (and presumably the last) segregationist champion to be so honored.
And, the elder statesman would warn, be alert to the you're-just-one-of-the-multitudes ploy used by many reporters.
At one time or another, each physician has fit into one or more of the following leadership slots: hospital chief of staff or department chairperson; CEO or medical director in a group practice, HMO, or hospital; commanding officer of a military unit; political leader in a medical community or organization; respected clinician; or elder statesman or stateswoman.
As an elder statesman, he was for many years a valued, if unofficial, adviser to presidents, his "office " a famous park bench in Jackson Square, opposite the White House.
The delegation was on a condolence visit to the elder statesman whose daughter was killed by gunmen at Ore junction in Ondo State.
Mr Schmidt went on to become an iconic elder statesman, weighing in on Germany's political debates into his nineties.
"So is Innes and Andrew Weatherall." NOEL ON BEING AN ELDER STATESMAN OF ROCK "Do I feel it?
No, the elder statesman said, that's the opposition - the real enemy is behind you.
Elder statesman: Stephen Carr has impressed the boss.
Derby third strikes under elder statesman Noel Harris at Hastings
HOW nice to see the elder statesman of the team of councillors from Fazakerley gracing the front page of your newspaper on Tuesday, February 5, showing that, despite his advancing years and declining health, he can still get his face on the front of a newspaper.
Louis Johnson, another elder statesman (he choreographed Broadway's original Purlie), offered his lyrical Duet for Noel Pointer, with Rocklin Thompson and April Thomas Wilkins demonstrating flawless technique and beautiful lines within their steamy partnering.
He speaks as a young leader in the 1950s, as a convicted enemy of the apartheid state facing the gallows in 1964, as a newly elected president exactly 30 years later, and as the revered elder statesman of Africa, advocating for peace on a troubled continent well into his retirement.