centenarian
Americanadjective
noun
noun
adjective
-
being at least 100 years old
-
of or relating to a centenarian
Usage
What does centenarian mean? A centenarian is someone who is 100 years old or older. Centenarian can also be used as an adjective to describe someone who’s 100 or older, as in The ceremony honored centenarian veterans, or things related to such a person, as in I have entered my centenarian years. It’s one of several similar terms used to refer to a person of a certain age, including quadragenarian (40s), quinquagenarian (50s), sexagenarian (60s), septuagenarian (70s), octogenarian (80s), and nonagenarian (90s). Someone who is 110 years or older can be called a supercentenarian. Actually, if you’re 110 or older, you can be called whatever you want. Example: I can’t believe I’m going to be a centenarian—tomorrow I turn 100!
Etymology
Origin of centenarian
First recorded in 1745–50; from Latin centenāri(us) ( see centenary) + -an
Explanation
People who live to be 100 years old are centenarians. As life expectancy increases, the number of centenarians does too. Today's centenarians have lived almost 30 years longer than the average U.S. life span, which is about 77 years. If you consider everything that's occurred over the last century, it's pretty amazing to think of all the changes and historical events that most centenarians have witnessed. You can use the word as an adjective, too: "I'd like you to meet my centenarian great-grandmother!" The Latin root of centenarian is centum, "hundred."
Vocabulary lists containing centenarian
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for September 28–October 5, 2024
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: cent
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for June 8–June 14, 2024
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
No one lives forever, not even centenarian Henry Kissinger.
From Salon ● May 8, 2026
When its government began the centenarian survey in 1963, there were 153 people aged 100 or over.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025
Having the right genes plays an important role in becoming a centenarian, says aging researcher Henne Holstege of Amsterdam University Medical Center.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 20, 2024
The path to becoming a healthy centenarian — as opposed to just a centenarian — is surprisingly different for those born as women and men, says social researcher and author Maddy Dychtwald.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2024
It must have brought the centenarian a great and justifiable pride when on that day he looked on the representatives of the Laryngological societies encircling the world, who united to call him Father.
From Garcia the Centenarian And His Times Being a Memoir of Manuel Garcia's Life and Labours for the Advancement of Music and Science by Mackinlay, M. (Malcolm) Sterling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
