A.Word.A.Day --senescent

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Today's Word

senescent

PRONUNCIATION:

(si-NES-uhnt)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Growing old; aging.
2. Deteriorating or decaying with the passage of time.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin senescere (to grow old), from senex (old). Ultimately from the Indo-European root sen- (old), which is also the ancestor of senior, senate, senile, Spanish señor, sir, sire, and surly (which is an alteration of sirly, as in sir-ly). Earliest documented use: 1656.

USAGE:

“Whenever [Trump] trains his blunderbuss on any corner of the world of sport it’s difficult to decipher whether he’s deadly serious, merely trying to generate instant outrage, or just heading off on a senescent ramble.”
Stock Car Drivers Revamping the US Army and Other Trump Sports Plans; Irish Times (Dublin); Aug 9, 2024.

See more usage examples of senescent in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

All one's life as a young woman one is on show, a focus of attention, people notice you. You set yourself up to be noticed and admired. And then, not expecting it, you become middle-aged and anonymous. No one notices you. You achieve a wonderful freedom. It's a positive thing. You can move about unnoticed and invisible. -Doris Lessing, novelist, poet, playwright, Nobel laureate (22 Oct 1919-2013)

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