SENILITY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does senility mean? 

• SENILITY (noun)
  The noun SENILITY has 2 senses:

1. mental infirmity as a consequence of old age; sometimes shown by foolish infatuations

2. the state of being senile

  Familiarity information: SENILITY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SENILITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Mental infirmity as a consequence of old age; sometimes shown by foolish infatuations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

dotage; second childhood; senility

Hypernyms ("senility" is a kind of...):

age; eld; geezerhood; old age; years (a late time of life)

Derivation:

senile (mentally or physically infirm with age)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The state of being senile

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("senility" is a kind of...):

oldness (the opposite of youngness)

Derivation:

senile (mentally or physically infirm with age)

 Context examples 

Ebbits seemed sinking back into his senility with the tale untold, and I demanded: What of thy sons, Moklan and Bidarshik?

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He had been called in, had found the woman dying of pure senility, had actually seen her pass away, and had signed the certificate in due form.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided into a doddering, loose-lipped senility.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)