dementia

Plural: dementiae, dementias

Noun

• A chronic or persistent disorder of mental processes.
• mental deterioration of organic or functional origin
• A progressive decline in cognitive function due to damage or disease in the brain beyond what might be expected from normal aging. Areas particularly affected include memory, attention, judgement, language and problem solving.
• Madness or insanity.

Examples

• A player suffering from word-game DEMENTIA might try to play ’XYZ’ for 50 points.

Synonyms

dementedness

Related Words

Alzheimer's disease, amentia, delirium, demented, demential