Senile

//ˈsinaɪl// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who is senile. dated

    "Seniles differ markedly in their early adult intelligence level, and in their social, vocational, and educational histories."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, or relating to old age.

    "Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems— […]. Such a slow-release device containing angiogenic factors could be placed on the pia mater covering the cerebral cortex and tested in persons with senile dementia in long term studies."

  2. 2
    Exhibiting the deterioration in mind and body often accompanying old age; doddering. offensive, often

    "Her mother was senile, but they called it dementia now."

Adjective
  1. 1
    mentally or physically infirm with age wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dodderingagedagingancientanilechildish

Example

More examples

"It's better to go senile while you're still young. It'll save you the trouble of having to do it later."

Etymology

1660s; borrowed from French sénile, from Middle French senile, from Old French senile, from Latin senīlis (“of or pertaining to old age”), from senex (“old man”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sénos (“old”).

Related phrases

senile angiomasenile gangrenesenile wartold age

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.