as in elderly
showing a loss of mental ability (such as memory) in old age
a senile man in his eighties Her mother is becoming senile.
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Recent Examples of senile
The kids can’t spell and the world leaders are senile.
—
Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2025
Back on the domestic front, Jeanine has reason to believe that her husband, Paul (Mark O’Brien), is having an affair with her senile mother’s caregiver.
—Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Sep. 2023
Don Quixote himself is too often a senile dodderer; Daniel Rubin was creaky in body but youthfully quixotic in spirit.
—Jeffrey Gantz, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Mar. 2023
But Benjamin Smith, a professor of Latin American history at the University of Warwick in Britain, said the tweet could further fuel ongoing rumors that López Obrador, 69, is senile or otherwise unfit to govern.
—Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2023
See All Example Sentences for senile
Literary Hub, 21 Oct. 2025
Back on the domestic front, Jeanine has reason to believe that her husband, Paul (Mark O’Brien), is having an affair with her senile mother’s caregiver.
—Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Sep. 2023
Don Quixote himself is too often a senile dodderer; Daniel Rubin was creaky in body but youthfully quixotic in spirit.
—Jeffrey Gantz, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Mar. 2023
But Benjamin Smith, a professor of Latin American history at the University of Warwick in Britain, said the tweet could further fuel ongoing rumors that López Obrador, 69, is senile or otherwise unfit to govern.
—Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2023
See All Example Sentences for senile
Recent Examples of Synonyms for senile
Adjective
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Outside the trendy thrift shops and cafes, elderly women in headscarves sweep sidewalks with rustic brooms while teens whiz by on electric scooters.—
Lori Rackl,
Boston Herald,
31 May 2026
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The suspect accused of killing three elderly men in Hawaii has been charged with murder, along with almost a dozen criminal offenses, authorities announced on Sunday.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
31 May 2026
Adjective
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According to News 12, the 43-year-old reality star told VUE Magazine about his plans to enter the political sphere at their spring edition party on Thursday night.—
Lori A Bashian,
FOXNews.com,
3 June 2026
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They were jostled by men carrying heavy crates, cursed out by a man selling a pair of old boots, and viewed with suspicion by seemingly everyone else.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 June 2026
Adjective
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Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, told CNN the new facility reveals a maturation and scaling of North Korea’s nuclear program.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
4 June 2026
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Montana’s senior senator and one of its two members of Congress are not running for reelection this year, attracting crowded fields of both Republicans and Democrats seeking to replace them.—
Washington Post staff,
Washington Post,
3 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Senile.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/senile. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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