senile dementia

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. a syndrome of progressive, irreversible impairment of cognitive function, caused by organic factors and having its onset late in life.

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senile dementia British  

noun

1. dementia starting in old age with no precipitating physical cause

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Etymology

Origin of senile dementia

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Girls had to assist in caring for the elderly, including men suffering from senile dementia.

From BBC • Mar. 21, 2023

Surgeons had removed a neck tumor a few years earlier, and he would soon endure hip replacement surgery and be found to have mild senile dementia.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 2, 2018

Wandering around in the middle of the night in his nightshirt, he enters into a conversation with his impatient wife, Anne, who shows signs of senile dementia.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 22, 2018

He is, I believe, in the beginning stages of senile dementia, a disease that runs in our family.

From Slate • Jan. 3, 2017

I was uncertain if this referred to Bud or to a literal blue jay, or if, perhaps, we were heading into the territory of senile dementia.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt