Skip to content

démence

dementia, madness

noun deh-MAHNS Rare

Origin: Latin dementia

Usage Note

Démence has both a clinical sense (dementia, cognitive decline) and a stronger informal sense of madness or insanity — c'est de la démence ('it's sheer madness'). The adjective dément(e) can describe a person with dementia or, colloquially, something staggering or incredible. The medical term la maladie d'Alzheimer is more specific in clinical contexts.

Examples

"Sa démence s'est aggravée avec l'âge."

Natural Translation

His dementia worsened with age.

Explore French by topic