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.
-
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.
-
(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.
-
(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
-
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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Graham's Top 50 Words, in terms of relevance
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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:
He serves as a senior member of the House Committee on Appropriations and is chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2026
“It is so difficult to get that capacity back once it closes,” said Don Close, a senior beef industry analyst with Terrain, an agriculture market research firm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
Kyiv is sending several senior officials who have been part of previous negotiating teams, including Foreign Intelligence Service head Rustem Umerov, Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov, and MP Davyd Arakhamiya.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2026
Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, was a senior executive at Megaspeed.
From Barron's ● Nov. 9, 2026
As a senior Morgan Stanley executive outside Hubler’s group put it, “They didn’t want to show you the results. They kept saying, That state of the world can’t happen.”
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Senior UK correspondent Sima Kotecha was inside the Southwark Crown Court during the sentencing.
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2026
Dr. Jennifer Rood, Interim Senior Vice Chancellor and Executive Director of Pennington Biomedical, emphasized the importance of connecting laboratory discoveries with research involving patients and broader populations.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2026
Before polls closed Election Night, CBS News Senior White House reporter Weija Jiang posted on X that while the president’s advisors were concerned about potentially “razor thin” U.S.
From Slate ● Nov. 4, 2026
Senior Alana Carrillo got interested in the sport when she was 9 after watching a girl on YouTube play.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
But Tommy was looking eagerly at the Senior 3 boy, as though his name had already been called.
From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro
This age-related decline can make influenza particularly dangerous for seniors.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 8, 2026
This year’s seniors are the first to have played the sport all four years of their high school careers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
Neither do the new deductions for seniors, tips and overtime.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Even seniors, now choosing their Medicare plans, are seeing slimmed-down benefits and increases in charges such as drug deductibles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
“I mean, why not wait for all this stuff to die down? Coach will have you be a starter next season when all the seniors leave.”
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
