senility

noun

se·nil·i·ty | \ si-ˈni-lə-tē

How to pronounce senility (audio)

also se- \

Definition of senility

: the quality or state of being senile : the physical and mental decline associated with old age especially : the deterioration of cognitive functioning associated with old age

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Examples of senility in a Sentence

with his increasing senility, Granddad is beginning to have more and more senior moments

Recent Examples on the Web Trump has repeatedly flipped the conversation about mental deterioration onto his opponent, who many have claimed also shows signs of senility. — Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker, "We May Need the Twenty-fifth Amendment if Trump Loses," 26 Oct. 2020 Viewers got to see Crowder, decked out in a red, white, and blue boxing outfit, joke with Cruz about Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s supposed senility, often after watching pre-roll ads. — Mark Bergen, Bloomberg.com, "A Conservative YouTuber Thrives By Pushing Conflict With Site," 12 Oct. 2020 Most strikingly, Biden, like Reagan, needs to dispel the notion — propounded relentlessly by Trump and his supporters — that at 77, the former vice president has descended into senility. — Doyle Mcmanus Los Angeles Times (tns), Star Tribune, "To cage-fight Trump, or talk to 100 million people?," 29 Sep. 2020 Capone is set in this latter period of his life and makes the senility real by blending scenes from Capone's rise into his everyday life to simulate jumbled memories. — Christian Holub, EW.com, "See Tom Hardy as Al Capone in the long-awaited trailer for Josh Trank's biopic," 15 Apr. 2020 It was widely believed that its most common cause was senility, an extreme stage of aging. — Jason Karlawish, STAT, "Aducanumab isn’t the simple solution to the complicated Alzheimer’s crisis," 20 Dec. 2019 My grandmother had descended into senility without me. — Keith Gessen, Longreads, "My Brother Comes to Moscow," 10 July 2018 People pointed to Magic Johnson, Dave DeBusschere, Spencer Haywood and others – who had remarkable NBA careers and wondered if senility had finally caught up with SOS. — Mick Mccabe, Detroit Free Press, "Class C champ Detroit Edison's Brandon Neely lives with memory of gun shot," 25 Mar. 2018 Trump and his allies are correct that Reagan’s critics accused him of senility in office. — Jonathan Chait, Daily Intelligencer, "Why Republicans Love Dumb Presidents," 10 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'senility.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Dictionary Entries near senility

senile dementia

senile deterioration

Statistics for senility

Cite this Entry

“Senility.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/senility. Accessed 27 Feb. 2021.

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More Definitions for senility

senility

noun

se·nil·i·ty | \ si-ˈnil-ət-ē also se- \

plural senilities

Medical Definition of senility

: the quality or state of being senile : the physical and mental decline associated with old age especially : the deterioration of cognitive functioning associated with old age

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