Every time I got a government job, I always felt obligated to tell the authorities that I had this mother who had probably been a Communist. It was an annoying piece of baggage. Then eventually she became senile and forgot about politics and actually became very benign. Larissa MacFarquhar, New Yorker, 10 Dec. 2001There appears to be little common ground between those who see the paintings [Willem de Kooning's late works] in question as a sublime achievement, a late style comparable to the cut-paper masterpieces of the aging Matisse, and those who describe them as the senile doodlings of a once great artist whose reputation is being damaged for the sake of commercial exploitation. Calvin Tomkins, New Yorker, 10 Feb. 1997Franco himself, during the final months of his life, had become a senile, quaking octogenarian. John A. Crow, Spain: The Root and the Flower, (1963) 1985 a senile man in his eighties Her mother is becoming senile.
Recent Examples on the WebThe right's efforts to paint the 79-year-old as senile and unable to meet the demands of his office have been largely successful, certainly among Republicans. Frida Ghitis, CNN, 5 Aug. 2022 The issue is about more than just the heightened risk of a sudden death tilting the balance of power, or a senile leader making important decisions. Charlotte Alter, Time, 21 Oct. 2021 Cherry angiomas are sometimes referred to as senile angiomas—that's because they are commonly associated with getting older, usually popping up after age 30, per Mount Sinai. Sarah Fielding, Health.com, 5 Oct. 2021 Graham and Trump would prefer to use it to push a larger narrative, that the media and the Democrats conspired to contain the truth so that Joe Biden, a weak and possibly senile candidate, would win the election. Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 13 June 2021 As a woman struggling to communicate with her senile father, Colman wears exasperation and sorrow on her face without losing her composure. Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 15 Apr. 2021 Their simple, repetitive language is translated literally in the subtitles making them seem very primitive and perhaps a little senile. Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Nov. 2019 The cause was senile degeneration of the brain, said a son, Peter Siebentritt. Benjamin Gordon, Washington Post, 25 Aug. 2019 Iacocca had to overcome the doubts of Chairman Henry Ford II, grandson of the auto pioneer, who had taken over the company's reins from his senile grandfather during World War II. Donald Woutat, latimes.com, 2 July 2019 See More