Definition of senile
1 : of, relating to, exhibiting, or characteristic of old age senile weakness; especially : exhibiting a loss of cognitive abilities (such as memory) associated with old age
2 : approaching the end of a geological cycle of erosion
From the M-W Editors
Examples of senile in a Sentence
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
a senile man in his eighties
Her mother is becoming senile.
Recent Examples of senile from the Web
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Decrepit, senile, and miserable, Tithonus eventually shrank into a cicada who stridulated ceaselessly, calling out for release.
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Even the most senile merchant can usually spot these shams.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'senile.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of senile
Latin senilis, from sen-, senex old, old man
SENILE Defined for English Language Learners
senile
playDefinition of senile for English Language Learners
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: showing a loss of mental ability (such as memory) in old age
Medical Dictionary
Medical 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: 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
Learn More about senile
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See words that rhyme with senile Spanish Central: Translation of senile Nglish: Translation of senile for Spanish speakers
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