If you refer to a group of people as the old guard, you mean that they have worked in a particular organization for a very long time and are unwilling to accept new ideas or practices.
[disapproval]
The old guard did not like the changes that Brewer introduced.
He belongs to the ruling Nationalist Party's old guard.
Synonyms: traditionalists, conservatives, reactionaries More Synonyms of old guard
old guard in British English
noun
1.
a group that works for a long-established or old-fashioned cause or principle
2.
the conservative element in a political party or other group
Word origin
C19: from Old Guard
Old Guard in British English
noun
the French imperial guard created by Napoleon in 1804
Old Guard in American English
1.
the imperial guard, organized by Napoleon I in 1804
2. [usuallyo- g-]
any group that has long defended a cause
3. [usuallyo- g-]
the most conservative element of a group, party, etc.
Word origin
transl. of Fr Vieille Garde: so named in contrast to the Young Guard, formed (1810)
Examples of 'old guard' in a sentence
old guard
This idea of old guard and new guard does not stack up.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
There is an old guard versus new generation thing going on here.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The ousting of the old guard by the new?
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
That would disappoint those who criticise the party 's old guard for being out of touch.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The team was deeply divided between the new and the old guard and between "northern' and "southern' players.
John Foot Calcio: A History of Italian Football (2006)
Another shuttle bus - this one labeled `The Old Guard " - bumped past him as he skirted the lake.
Maupin, Armistead SIGNIFICANT OTHERS (1989)
(noun)
Definition
a group of people in an organization who have traditional values