Meaning & use
anile
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Meaning
adjectivecomparablerareoffensive
Showing the weakness or silliness that was once wrongly thought typical of old women; a dated and insulting word.
Grammar: Rare and formal; it can describe a person or a way of thinking. Best avoided today.
Patterns
- anile in manner
Older books sometimes describe a character's anile chatter, a phrase now seen as insulting.
The critic dismissed the argument as anile, a word that now sounds sexist.
Dictionaries mark anile as dated and disparaging.
Common combinations
- anile chatter
- The old novel describes the anile chatter of the guests.
- anile fears
- He wrote of anile fears and superstitions.
- anile in manner
- The critic called the poem anile in manner.
- anile thinking
- Anile thinking is a dated insult.
Synonyms and how they differ
- senile
- Senile refers to mental decline from old age and applies to any gender, whereas anile specifically targets old women.
- doddering
- Doddering describes someone shaky and feeble with age, without the gendered insult.
- decrepit
- Decrepit means worn out by age or use, and can describe objects and buildings.
- dotty
- Dotty is a British informal word for slightly crazy or eccentric, and it is milder.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: anile or aniline?
anile vs aniline
Aniline is an oily chemical used to make dyes and has no connection to anile.
Practice
Why do modern writers usually avoid the word anile?
Choose one answer.
Anile is a dated word that disparages old women. It is not chemistry, nor does it mean joyful, and it is not a misspelling.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “anile”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.