Veteran1. (a.) Long exercised in anything, especially in military life and the duties of a soldier; long practiced or experienced; as, a veteran officer or soldier; veteran skill.
2. (n.) One who has been long exercised in any service or art, particularly in war; one who has had.
Thesaurus Entries
Father Time, Methuselah, Nestor, Old Paar, blase, campaigner, centenarian, cosmopolitan, cosmopolite, dotard, elder, experienced, expert, gaffer, geezer, golden-ager, gramps, grandfather, grandsire, graybeard, knowing, master, mature, matured, nonagenarian, not born yesterday, octogenarian, old, old campaigner, old chap, old codger, old dog, old duffer, old geezer, old gent, old gentleman, old hand, old man, old party, old pro, old salt, old sea dog, old soldier, old-time, old-timer, older, oldster, pantaloon, past master, patriarch, practical, practiced, presbyter, ripe, ripened, sagacious, salt, seasoned, seasoned veteran, senior citizen, septuagenarian, sexagenarian, shellback, skilled, sophisticated, the quiet-voiced elders, tried, tried and true, trouper, venerable sir, versed, vet, war-horse, warhorse, wise, world-wise, worldly, worldly-wise