senior
adjective
older or elder (designating the older of two men bearing the same name, as a father whose son is named after him, often written as Sr. or sr. following the name).
senior
American
[seen-yer]
/ ˈsin jər /
adjective
-
older or elder (designating the older of two men bearing the same name, as a father whose son is named after him, often written as Sr. or sr. following the name).
I'd like to speak with the senior Mr. Hansen, please.
I'm privileged to introduce Mr. Edward Andrew Hansen, Sr.
-
of earlier appointment or admission, as to an office, status, or rank.
a senior partner.
-
of higher or the highest rank or standing.
-
(in American schools, colleges, and universities) of or relating to students in their final year or to their class.
-
(in certain American colleges and universities) of or relating to the final two years of education, during which a student specializes in a certain field of study.
-
of, for, or pertaining to a senior citizen or senior citizens as a group.
senior discounts on local bus fares.
-
of earlier date; prior to.
His appointment is senior to mine by a year.
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Finance. having a claim on payments, assets, dividends, or the like prior to other creditors, mortgages, stockholders, etc.
noun
-
seniors
plural
-
a person who is older than another.
-
a person of higher rank or standing than another, especially by virtue of longer service.
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(in the U.S.) a student in the final year at a high school, preparatory school, college, or university.
-
a fellow holding senior rank in a college at an English university.
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(initial capital letter) a member of the Girl Scouts from 14 through 17 years of age.
senior
1
British
/ ˈsiːnjə /
adjective
-
higher in rank or length of service
-
older in years
senior citizens
-
of or relating to adulthood, maturity, or old age
senior privileges
-
education
-
of, relating to, or designating more advanced or older pupils
-
of or relating to a secondary school
-
-
of, relating to, or designating students in the fourth and final year at college
noun
-
a senior person
-
an elderly person
-
-
a senior pupil, student, etc
-
a fellow of senior rank in an English university
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Senior
2
British
/ ˈsiːnjə /
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of senior
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin, equivalent to sen ( ex ) old, old man + -ior comparative adj. suffix
Explanation
You can use the word senior to describe anyone who's older than you are. You might say, "My brother is six years my senior," especially if you want to make him feel old. Senior means "older," but it also means "old or aged," like your grandmother, who despite being a senior citizen, continues her skydiving hobby. A senior is also a student in the final year of either high school or college, or an authority: "She holds a senior position in the State Department." The Latin word senior means "older," and it's the basis of respectful terms in many languages, like señor in Spanish and sire in French.
Vocabulary lists containing senior
Ancient Wisdom: Synonyms for "Old"
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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.
See Examples For:
Catherine Jensen Peña, PhD, an assistant professor at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute and the study's senior and co-corresponding author, compared DNA inside cells to a coiled slinky.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
Also, “news that the U.S. is returning diplomats to the Middle East eased concerns about an escalation in the war,” says Kristina Clifton, senior economist and senior currency strategist at CBA, in a research report.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Olivia Wein, a senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, first heard about ratio utility billing systems 20 years ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
On 19 May 2025, Chloe went to what she thought was a routine one-to-one with her line manager, but a more senior manager was also present.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
She tilted the screen toward the boy and read aloud: “‘Intimate relationships among senior citizens can improve physical and mental health.’”
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
"Senior staff at the new Trump administration, they all treated me very well," she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
Senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava, a Long Beach native, has been instrumental in integrating to his new teammates into the area, including showing his lockermate, Ellis, where to go and where not to go.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Senior DOJ officials, meanwhile, continued to seek state support for the settlement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
As of Aug. 6, oil prices were about 24% higher than at this time last year, according to the Senior Citizens League.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
That gave us a clear view of the North Playing Field where about a dozen boys from our year and Senior 3 had gathered to play football.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Two appeals courts have gone the other way and upheld age rules, including a Texas law on mail ballots for seniors that was challenged in 2020 amid the Covid pandemic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
“I would say that that’s what seniors are increasingly looking for in their Medicare experience.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Singapore is one of the world's fastest aging countries and its seniors are embracing the challenge of staying healthy creatively.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
That pandemic hit children and younger and middle-aged adults harder than seniors, who likely had been exposed to an older version of the H1N1 virus when they were younger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
I had never been to Yale, and Yale was the place all the seniors in my house liked to go best on weekends.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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.
