silver age

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

sil′ver age′, 

1. Mythology [Class. Myth.] the second of the four ages of humankind, inferior to the golden age but superior to the bronze age that followed: characterized by an increase of impiety and of human weakness.
2. Literature (usually caps.) a period in Latin literature,a.d.c14–138, following the Augustan Age: the second phase of classical Latin. Cf. golden age (def. 3).
• 1555–65

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

silver age noun

1. (in Greek and Roman mythology) the second of the world's major epochs, inferior to the preceding golden age and characterized by opulence and irreligion
2. the postclassical period of Latin literature, occupying the early part of the Roman imperial era, characterized by an overindulgence in elegance for its own sake and empty scholarly rhetoric