silver ceiling
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.09 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An informal (and often unacknowledged) barrier to promotion or advancement, in employment and elsewhere, for middle-aged and elderly people.
Example Sentences
- "Although society won't change its negative impressions about aging overnight, we are beginning to see real cracks in the "silver ceiling," the point at which age becomes a serious obstacle to employment."
- "He notes that the consumption of hair-colouring and hair-loss products, along with moisturisers, pedicures, facials and even cosmetic surgery by middle-aged men has increased over recent decades in order to avoid the 'silver ceiling'."
- "A dramatic increase in age discrimination lawsuits and greatly increased visibility of the problem have done little to alleviate the effects of the perceived “silver ceiling.”"
Etymology
silver (suggesting the gray hair characteristic of advanced age) + ceiling (suggesting a barrier to upward advancement); modeled on glass ceiling, the first of such figurative ceiling terms.