SENILE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does senile mean? 

• SENILE (adjective)
  The adjective SENILE has 1 sense:

1. mentally or physically infirm with age

  Familiarity information: SENILE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SENILE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mentally or physically infirm with age

Synonyms:

doddering; doddery; gaga; senile

Context example:

his mother was doddering and frail

Similar:

old ((used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age)

Derivation:

senility (the state of being senile)

senility (mental infirmity as a consequence of old age; sometimes shown by foolish infatuations)

 Context examples 

On the third day she died—certificate says senile decay—but that’s only the doctor’s opinion, and of course you know better.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Also called senile keratosis and solar keratosis.

(Actinic keratosis, NCI Dictionary)

Amyloid-beta (Abeta), a major component of senile plaques, has various pathological effects on cell and organelle function.

(Alzheimer's Disease Pathway KEGG, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

The amyloid-beta peptide (Ab), a proteolytic fragment of amyloid precursor protein (APP), is the major component of senile plaques, the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

(Platelet Amyloid Precursor Protein Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The concept includes senile lentigo ('liver spots') and nevoid lentigo (nevus spilus, lentigo simplex) and may also occur in association with multiple congenital defects or congenital syndromes (e.g., Peutz-Jeghers syndrome).

(Lentigo, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A standardized rating scale originally developed by Hachinski et al in 1975 and later modified by Rosen et al in 1980 to clinically differentiate two most common types of dementia: senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT), a primary degenerative disease, and primary degenerative disease (MID), a vascular disorder.

(Modified Hachinski Ischemic Scale-NACC Version Questionnaire, NCI Thesaurus)

AD is associated with senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs).

(Alzheimer's Disease Pathway KEGG, NCI Thesaurus/KEGG)

For several weeks I didn't see him or hear his voice on the phone—mostly I was in New York, trotting around with Jordan and trying to ingratiate myself with her senile aunt—but finally I went over to his house one Sunday afternoon.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)