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geriatrics

American  
[jer-ee-a-triks, jeer-] / ˌdʒɛr iˈæ trɪks, ˌdʒɪər- /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

  1. the branch of medicine dealing with the diseases, debilities, and care of aged people.

  2. the study of the physical processes and problems of aging; gerontology.

geriatrics British  
/ ˌdʒɛrɪˈætrɪks /

noun

  1. (functioning as singular) the branch of medical science concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting older people Compare gerontology

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
geriatrics Scientific  
/ jĕr′ē-ăt′rĭks /

  1. The branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and conditions of the elderly.

Usage

The term geriatric medicine is often used nowadays in preference to geriatrics

Other Word Forms

  • geriatrician noun
  • geriatrist noun

Etymology

Origin of geriatrics

First recorded in 1905–10; geriatric, -ics

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.

In March 2023, Schmidt met with George Hennawi, the MedStar system’s physician executive director of geriatrics and senior services, as well as others, including a pharmacist who went through her medications.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

Do not be fooled by suggestions Australia have unveiled a list of geriatrics, ready to shuffle off to a cricketing retirement home, tending the garden in their baggy green caps.

From BBC • Nov. 5, 2025

Fried, the Yale School of Medicine physician, works in geriatrics, and it weighs heavily on her mind whether her older patients are truly absorbing the medical information they need to know.

From Slate • May 2, 2025

Such testing is not readily at hand because of the paucity of effective treatment for Alzheimer’s, which has helped to make geriatrics a relatively unappealing specialty.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 13, 2023

She wore the insignia of a geriatrics supervisor.

From Life Sentence by Francis, Dick

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.