senior

[ seen-yer ]

adjective

1. 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): Compare junior ( def 1 ).

   I'd like to speak with the senior Mr. Hansen, please.

   I'm privileged to introduce Mr. Edward Andrew Hansen, Sr.

2. of earlier appointment or admission, as to an office, status, or rank:

   a senior partner.

3. of higher or the highest rank or standing.
4. (in American schools, colleges, and universities) of or relating to students in their final year or to their class.
5. (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.
6. of, for, or pertaining to a senior citizen or senior citizens as a group:

   senior discounts on local bus fares.

7. of earlier date; prior to:

   His appointment is senior to mine by a year.

8. Finance. having a claim on payments, assets, dividends, or the like prior to other creditors, mortgages, stockholders, etc.

noun

1. a person who is older than another.
2. a person of higher rank or standing than another, especially by virtue of longer service.
3. (in the U.S.) a student in the final year at a high school, preparatory school, college, or university.
4. a fellow holding senior rank in a college at an English university.
5. a senior citizen.
6. (initial capital letter) a member of the Girl Scouts from 14 through 17 years of age.

Senior

¹

/ ˈsiːnjə /

adjective

1. being the older: used to distinguish the father from the son with the same first name or names AbbreviationSrSen

   Charles Parker, Senior

senior

²

/ ˈsiːnjə /

adjective

1. higher in rank or length of service
2. older in years

   senior citizens

3. of or relating to adulthood, maturity, or old age

   senior privileges

4. education
   1. of, relating to, or designating more advanced or older pupils
   2. of or relating to a secondary school
5. of, relating to, or designating students in the fourth and final year at college

noun

1. a senior person
2. an elderly person
3. 1. a senior pupil, student, etc
   2. a fellow of senior rank in an English university

Word History and Origins

Origin of senior¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin, equivalent to sen ( ex ) old, old man + -ior comparative adj. suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of senior¹

C14: from Latin: older, from senex old

Example Sentences

Next, FiveThirtyEight senior sportswriter Chris Herring joins to talk about what’s ahead for the Houston Rockets now that they’ve crashed out of the NBA playoffs.

From FiveThirtyEight

Colin Cunliff is a senior policy analyst with the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

From MIT Technology Review

Eddy Cue, 55, was named the senior vice president of the unit in 2011.

From Fortune

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld is a senior associate dean and Lester Crown Professor of Management Practice at the Yale School of Management.

From Fortune

For longer-term success, new-country partners will need to train and develop senior business leaders.

From Fortune

Stanley Richards, Senior Vice President of the Fortune Society, gave a tour along with a few residents.

From The Daily Beast

“We look for the qualities that are evocative of V.S.O.P Privilege,” explained Hennessy Senior Vice President Rodney Williams.

From The Daily Beast

“Clean as a whistle,” says a senior investigator involved in the case.

From The Daily Beast

Another senior Air Force official with stealth fighter experience agreed.

From The Daily Beast

E.J. Graff, senior fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism, is the author of What Is Marriage For?

From The Daily Beast

The senior branch of the family being thus extinct the whole of the entailed estate had devolved on me.

From Project Gutenberg

“Reduced counsels,” interposed Mr. Weller senior, in an undertone.

From Project Gutenberg

This senior was middle-aged, and passing rich on eighty pounds a year.

From Project Gutenberg

I remember a senior clerk in the office where I first worked to whom there was a general aversion.

From Project Gutenberg

He must have had means of his own, as he lived in a way far beyond the reach of even a senior clerk of the first degree.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• elder
• pensioner
• senior citizen