senility
[si-nil-i-tee]
- the state of being senile, especially the weakness or mental infirmity of old age.
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Origin of senility
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
feebleness, decline, age, dotage, senescence, decrepitude, senectitude, anility, caducityExamples from the Web for senility
Contemporary Examples
Whether it was actual ignorance, senility, or some obscure test, it's hard to know.
With senility's fingers at his throat, it was clear that no more movies were going to be made.
Adrift in senility and depression, Hitchcock is dismantling his life, putting it away.
Like senility, there is no way to stop sebaceous hyperplasia from advancing, either.
Historical Examples
Not of age—merely of time; for here was no senility, no quavering or fretful lines.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
"Glad your senility has not affected that remnant of your common-sense," he declared.
Kent Knowles: QuahaugJoseph C. Lincoln
Is it a sign of senility, or half-thought-out ideas, or what?
CyropaediaXenophon
There's a similar touch of ineptitude (senility, perhaps) in the Memorabilia, ad fin.
CyropaediaXenophon
And this is the man they accuse of senility and weak intellect!
Word Origin and History for senility
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
senility
(sĭ-nĭl′ĭ-tē)- The state of being senile.
- The mental and physical deterioration characteristic of old age.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.