senility

[ si-nil-i-tee ]

/ sɪˈnɪl ɪ ti /

the state of being senile, especially the weakness or mental infirmity of old age.

Nearby words

First recorded in 1770–80; senile + -ity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Whether it was actual ignorance, senility, or some obscure test, it's hard to know.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
With senility's fingers at his throat, it was clear that no more movies were going to be made.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Adrift in senility and depression, Hitchcock is dismantling his life, putting it away.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Like senility, there is no way to stop sebaceous hyperplasia from advancing, either.
My Odyssey Into Extreme Dermatology|Elizabeth Hayt|April 15, 2009|DAILY BEAST

His garments, in an advanced state of senility, exuded cinders at every pore.
The Lash|Olin L. Lyman
Most lovers are alike in this—in youth, in middle age, in senility.
The Romance of an Old Fool|Roswell Field
It is not the tragedy of senility which his extreme age pictures, nor yet the hump upon his back, which stirs my note of pain.
Moriah's Mourning and Other Half-Hour Sketches|Ruth McEnery Stuart
The moss of senility is covering the bloom of youth and the honor of youth.
'Charge It'|Irving Bacheller
But the hallucinations which he nourished about himself were not all the outcome of senility.
Jerome Cardan|William George Waters

1753, from senile + -ity.

[ sĭ-nĭl′ĭ-tē ]

The state of being senile.

The mental and physical deterioration characteristic of old age.