Occasionally an endearment, dirty old man is a pejorative for a mature or elderly male with lewd, crude, lascivious, toxic, obscene, or perverted preoccupations directed towards people (which, historically, are female) significantly younger than himself. If the one on the receiving end of such attention is below the age of consent, the dirty old man is more properly termed a pedophile, hebephile, or ephebohile, depending.
Easily identified through his inappropriate comments, glances, gestures, actions, and/or behavior overall, such an individual is much less socially tolerable in these currently enlightened times than in days gone by. For those of us within the required age range, it can be difficult to break the habits of former cultural programming, but not being a dirty old man is an endeavor worth pursuing if anyone truly wishes to support the humanness of the individuals in their lives. In this day and age, the objectification of another person purely as a means to fulfill one's carnal desires, or for any other reason really, just is not acceptable, and never should have been. Now that we know better, we have got to do better.
See also: chickenhawk; sugar daddy; misogyny; gerontophilia; jailbait.
Brevity Quest 2024