Basic Details
Word: Senior
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Older, or higher in rank or position than others; as a noun, a person who is older or in a higher class.
Synonyms: older, elder, higher-ranking
Antonyms: junior, younger
Word origin: From Latin senior, older, the comparative of senex, old.
How to Spell Senior
Syllables: se - nior
Tricky part: The ending -ior is often turned into -oir or -ier. Senior ends exactly like its opposite, junior.
Watch out for: senoir, senier, seneor
Memory tip: Senior and junior are a pair, and they finish with the same three letters, -ior. Learn them together.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The senior doctor checked the X-ray before the young intern spoke to us.
Example 2: Every year the seniors of Class 12 plant a tree near the school gate.
Example 3: Indian Railways once gave senior citizens a discount on train tickets.
Fun Fact
Senate and senile share the Latin root senex, old man. The Roman Senate began as a council of elders.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word senior as used in the sentence:
My cousin is senior to me by three years and never lets me forget it.
a) superior
b) junior
c) older
d) elder
Show answer
b) junior. Elder, older and superior all point upwards like senior; junior means younger or lower.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Every Friday, the senoir students of our school help the little ones in the library choose books they will enjoy.
a) library
b) senoir
c) enjoy
d) students
Show answer
b) senoir. The i comes before the o, just as in junior; library, students and enjoy are spelt correctly.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Our oersin captain, who is in Class 10, led the morning assembly.
a) season
b) senior
c) sermon
d) sensor
Show answer
b) senior. Sensor and season have two s's and sermon has an m, so only senior uses these six letters.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In India, a senior citizen is usually a person aged ____.
a) under 12 years
b) 60 years or above
c) 40 years or below
d) 18 years or above
Show answer
b) 60 years or above
2. If Meera is senior to Dev at work, she ____.
a) is younger than Dev
b) holds a higher position
c) joined only yesterday
d) reports to Dev daily
Show answer
b) holds a higher position
