senior
Noun pluralseniors
Pluralseniors
- 1Higher in rank, dignity, or office; superior in standing to others.
She holds a senior position at the law firm.
Senior officers met privately to discuss the new policy.
UsageMore senior and most senior are normal: the most senior partner. To compare two people, use to: senior to her.
Similarhigh-ranking, superior, chief, top, leading
Oppositejunior, subordinate, lower
Note
Rank is where the Latin comparative wears thinnest. Its relatives sir and seigneur, kin to the "older" meaning, made the same move from age to authority.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- English senior derives from a Latin comparative meaning older. en.wiktionary.org
- Sir is related to senior and developed from an age word into an expression of authority. en.wiktionary.org
- Seigneur is related to senior and developed from an age word into a title of authority. en.wikipedia.org
She is the most senior partner at the firm.
He became more senior with every promotion.
- 2An elderly person, especially one past retirement age, sometimes regarded with respect because of their age.
Several seniors gathered in the lobby to wait for the shuttle bus.
A senior traveling alone can request help boarding the train.
UsageShort for senior citizen: discounts for seniors, a senior center. Some people prefer older people.
Similarpensioner, retiree, elder
Note
Older writing used it more grandly: Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World (1912) has "grave and reverend seniors", white-bearded men shaking their fists at a professor.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Lost World. gutenberg.org
- The Lost World was first published in 1912. en.wikipedia.org
- The novel's narrator uses grave and reverend seniors while describing white-bearded men shaking their fists at a professor. gutenberg.org
- 3A student in the final year at a high school or university.
As a senior, she mentored several younger students through their first term.
The seniors decorated the gym before the homecoming dance.
UsageThe last of the four years named freshman, sophomore, junior, senior: a senior in high school.
Oppositefreshman
- 4Having to do with the final year of high school (twelfth grade) or of a university course of study.
She gave a short speech at the senior banquet.
The senior class organized a trip to Washington in the spring.
UsageComes before a noun: senior year, the senior class, senior prom.
- 5Describing a league or competition open only to players beyond a specified age or experience level.
He qualified for the senior division at the national championship.
Senior players in this league must be over thirty.
Similarveteran
Oppositejunior
Note
Sports in the US and Canada use it to name a tier: senior hockey is typically played by adults past junior age, though some senior divisions are open to players of any age. A senior league may therefore mean established adult competition rather than older players. Check which kind a league means before assuming its players are old.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Senior hockey need not impose such a threshold: Hockey Alberta explicitly describes its senior division as open to players of any age. hockeyalberta.ca
- 6Greater in age than another; older.
The senior Mr. Holloway, now eighty, handed the farm over to his son.
Although he is ten years senior to his wife, he has far more energy than she does.
UsageUse to, not than: ten years senior to him (not
incorrect: senior than him). In everyday talk, older than is more usual.
Less common meanings
- 7A person who is higher in rank, dignity, or office than another.
She always defers to her seniors during staff meetings.
As his senior, the captain issued the orders for the night watch.
UsageUsually with a possessive: her seniors, his senior.
Similarsuperior, higher-up, boss
Oppositejunior, subordinate, inferior
- 8A person who is older than another, referred to with a possessive.
Although she looked young, she was actually my senior by a decade.
The professor was only a few years our senior when she began teaching.
UsageGap first, then a possessive: ten years her senior, or my senior by a decade.
Similarelder
Oppositejunior
- 9In the early Christian Church, one of the elders, also called presbyters, of a congregation.
Note
A Bible translator's word, now obsolete. William Tyndale's New Testament of 1526 has Peter address the "ruelars of the people / and seniours of israhel". There it names the elders of a community, and in Church use it named a presbyter.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Senior was used by a Bible translator. en.wikipedia.org
- William Tyndale's complete New Testament was first published in 1526. en.wikipedia.org
- Tyndale's 1526 New Testament attributes the quoted address to Peter. en.wiktionary.org
- Senior historically denoted an elder or presbyter in the early Church. en.wiktionary.org
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of senior apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
Latin senex ("old") has the comparative senior ("older"), which Middle English took as senior. Señor, signore, sir, and sire are among its doublets.