noun
elderly person; senior citizen
Formal term often used in official or administrative contexts, such as policies, statistics, or respectful references to older adults.
この施設は高年者向けのサービスを提供しています。
This facility provides services for elderly people.
高年者の就労支援が重要な
Employment support for senior citizens has become an important issue.
Directly means 'old person' but can sound blunt or disrespectful; 高年者 is a more polite, euphemistic alternative.
Compound of 高年 (こうねん, 'advanced age') + 者 (しゃ, 'person'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term follows a common Sino-Japanese pattern for formal nouns.