old guards
Traditional power holders
Old guards are the established, traditional members of a group—those who've held power longest and often resist change.
The term evokes defenders of the status quo: The old guards in the party opposed the younger candidates' reforms.
Sometimes singular: He's part of the old guard that still believes in formal dress codes.
- insidersThose with special access
- inner circleExclusive group of confidants
- puristsStrict adherence advocates
- veteransFormer armed forces members
- stalwartsDevoted, reliable supporters
loyalists · party faithful · diehards · rank and file · matriarchs · gatekeepers · behind the scenes · monarchists · icons · defenders · custodians · pillars · founders · stewards · apparatchiks · reactionaries · traditionalists · sticklers
old guardsreformers
Advocates for institutional improvement
change agents · revolutionaries · progressives · modernizers · innovators
old guardsnew blood
Recently joined members
newcomers · young Turks · new generation · next generation · rising generation
old guardsprogressives
Social reform advocates
vanguard · avant-garde · forward-thinkers · visionaries · futurists
old, guard, older, oldest, olden, elderly, elder, guards, guarded