First Known Use: 1661
Dictionary
senile
adjective se·nile \ˈsē-ˌnī(-ə)l also ˈse-\
: showing a loss of mental ability (such as memory) in old age
Full Definition of SENILE
1
: of, relating to, exhibiting, or characteristic of old age <senile weakness>; especially : exhibiting a loss of cognitive abilities (as memory) associated with old age
2
: approaching the end of a geological cycle of erosion
— se·nile·ly \-ˌnī(-ə)l-lē\ adverb
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Examples of SENILE
- Every time I got a government job, I always felt obligated to tell the authorities that I had this mother who had probably been a Communist. It was an annoying piece of baggage. Then eventually she became senile and forgot about politics and actually became very benign. —Larissa MacFarquhar, New Yorker, 10 Dec. 2001
- There appears to be little common ground between those who see the paintings [Willem de Kooning's late works] in question as a sublime achievement, a late style comparable to the cut-paper masterpieces of the aging Matisse, and those who describe them as the senile doodlings of a once great artist whose reputation is being damaged for the sake of commercial exploitation. —Calvin Tomkins, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 1997
- Franco himself, during the final months of his life, had become a senile, quaking octogenarian. —John A. Crow, Spain: The Root and the Flower, (1963) 1985
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Origin of SENILE
Latin senilis, from sen-, senex old, old man
Other Medicine Terms
Medical Dictionary
senile
adjective se·nile \ˈsēn-ˌīl also ˈsen-\
Medical Definition of SENILE
1
: of, relating to, exhibiting, or characteristic of old age <senile weakness>; especially : exhibiting a loss of mental faculties associated with old age
2
: being a cell that cannot undergo mitosis and is in the stage of declining functional capacities prior to the time of death <senile red blood cells>
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