• senescent • Pronunciation: sê-nes-ênt • Hear it! Part of
Speech: Adjective Meaning: A more eloquent and delicate way of
saying "old" or "aging". Notes: Senior citizen is the sort of
term we come up with when we leave it to journalists and
academics to enrich our vocabulary. Today's word expresses the
same sentiment much more elegantly. It is the adjective from the
verb to senesce which has a noun, senescence. I would rather be
senescent than a senior citizen. A synonym of senescence is
senectitude, still better than senior citizen. In Play: J. D.
Salinger, writing in 1965 in the New Yorker, distinguished
senescence from maturation: "Few of these magnificent, healthy,
sometimes remarkably handsome boys will mature. The majority, I
give you my heartbreaking opinion, will merely senesce." Most of
us would prefer to forget about aging, which works out fine,
since forgetfulness is an art that comes with senescence. Word
History: Today's word was borrowed from Latin sensecen(t)s
"growing older", the present parti