se |nile de|me n|tia N‑UNCOUNT Senile dementia is a mental illness that affects some old people and that causes them to become confused and to forget things. □ She is suffering from senile dementia.
sen|ior ◆◆◇ /siː njə r / (seniors )
1 ADJ [ADJ n] The senior people in an organization or profession have the highest and most important jobs. □ …senior officials in the Israeli government. □ …the company's senior management. □ Television and radio needed many more women in senior jobs.
2 ADJ If someone is senior to you in an organization or profession, they have a higher and more important job than you or they are considered to be superior to you because they have worked there for longer and have more experience. □ [+ to ] The position had to be filled by an officer senior to Haig. ● N‑PLURAL Your seniors are the people who are senior to you. □ He was described by his seniors as a model officer.
3 N‑SING Senior is used when indicating how much older one person is than another. For example, if someone is ten years your senior , they are ten years older than you. □ She became involved with a married man many years her senior.
4 N‑COUNT Seniors are students in a high school, university, or college who are the oldest and who have reached an advanced level in their studies. [AM ]
5 ADJ [ADJ n] If you take part in a sport at senior level, you take part in competitions with adults and people who have reached a high degree of achievement in that sport. □ This will be his fifth international championship and his third at senior level. SYNONYMS senior ADJ 2
superior: …negotiations between the mutineers and their superior officers.
better: The train's average speed was no better than that of our bicycles.
se n|ior ci ti|zen (senior citizens ) N‑COUNT A senior citizen is an older person who has retired or receives an old age pension.
sen|ior|ity /siː niɒ r I ti, [AM ] -ɔː r I ti/ N‑UNCOUNT A person's seniority in an organization is the importance and power that they have compared with others, or the fact that they have worked there for a long time. □ He has said he will fire editorial employees without regard to seniority.
sen|sa|tion /sense I ʃ ə n/ (sensations )
1 N‑COUNT A sensation is a physical feeling. □ Floating can be a very pleasant sensation. □ [+ of ] A sensation of burning or tingling may be experienced in the hands.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Sensation is your ability to feel things physically, especially through your sense of touch. □ The pain was so bad that she lost all sensation.
3 N‑COUNT [usu adj N ] You can use sensation to refer to the general feeling or impression caused by a particular experience. □ It's a funny sensation to know someone's talking about you in a language you don't understand.
4 N‑COUNT If a person, event, or situation is a sensation , it causes great excitement or interest. □ …the film that turned her into an overnight sensation.
5 N‑SING If a person, event, or situation causes a sensation , they cause great interest or excitement. □ She was just 14 when she caused a sensation in Montreal.
sen|sa|tion|al /sense I ʃən ə l/
1 ADJ A sensational result, event, or situation is so remarkable that it causes great excitement and interest. □ The world champions suffered a sensational defeat. ● sen|sa|tion|al|ly ADV [usu ADV with v] □ The rape trial was sensationally halted yesterday.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] You can describe stories or reports as sensational if you disapprove of them because they present facts in a way that is intended to cause feelings of shock, anger, or excitement. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ …sensational tabloid newspaper reports.
3 ADJ You can describe something as sensational when you think that it is extremely good. □ Her voice is sensational. □ Experts agreed that this was a truly sensational performance. ● sen|sa|tion|al|ly ADV □ …sensationally good food.
sen|sa|tion|al|ism /sense I ʃənəl I zəm/ N‑UNCOUNT Sensationalism is the presenting of facts or stories in a way that is intended to produce strong feelings of shock, anger, or excitement. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ The report criticises the newspaper for sensationalism.
sen|sa|tion|al|ist /sense I ʃənəl I st/ ADJ Sensationalist news reports and television and radio programmes present the facts in a way that makes them seem worse or more shocking than they really are. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ …sensationalist headlines.
sen|sa|tion|al|ize /sense I ʃənəla I z/ (sensationalizes , sensationalizing , sensationalized ) in BRIT, also use sensationalise VERB If someone sensationalizes a situation or event, they make it seem worse or more shocking than it really is. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V n] Local news organizations are being criticized for sensationalizing the story.
sense ◆◆◆ /se ns/ (senses , sensing , sensed )
1 N‑COUNT Your senses are the physical abilities of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. □ She stared at him again, unable to believe the evidence of her senses. □ [+ of ] …a keen sense of smell.
2 → see also sixth sense
3 VERB If you sense something, you become aware of it or you realize it, although it is not very obvious. □ [V that] She probably sensed that I wasn't telling her the whole story. □ [V n] He looks about him, sensing danger. □ [V wh] Prost had sensed what might happen.
4 N‑SING [N that] If you have a sense that something is the case, you think that it is the case, although you may not have firm, clear evidence for this belief. □ Suddenly you got this sense that people were drawing themselves away from each other. □ [+ of ] There is no sense of urgency on either side.