elderly as a noun without article "the"?

[duiter]

Would you mind explaining this?

Is it correct to say elderly as a noun without article "the"?

Why this online dictionary says "usually preceded by the"?

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/elderly

Thanks and have a nice day!

 

[GoesStation]

The dictionary says that "elderly" as a noun is usually preceded by "the" because "elderly" as a noun is usually preceded by "the".

I can't think of a sentence that uses elderly as a noun without the definite article.

 

[Tdol]

I guess they said usually because there may be sentences where the article is omitted, but, like GoesStation, I can't come up with one.

 

[PaulMatthews]

If you are referring to expressions such as "the elderly", then no: "elderly" is not a noun here, but an adjective. This is commonly called a 'fused' modifier-head noun phrase, where the head word is combined, or fused, with a modifier. Thus the adjective "elderly" is simultaneously modifier and head of the noun phrase. In, for example, "The elderly are to be respected", "the elderly" is understood as "elderly people".

We can tell it's an adjective because it can be modified by an adverb, e.g. "the extremely elderly". Adverbs don't (normally) modify nouns.

Like most noun phrases, it requires a determiner: in this case it is determined by the definite article "the".

Expressions like this are common, cf. "the rich" ("rich people"), "the poor" ("poor people").