Please Call Me An Older Adult, I Haven’t Been a Senior Since College

Most of my writing has focused on being a senior, and I never liked that label. I associate it with being in the last year of high school or college, and I graduated from both of those a long time ago. I have a grandchild who was a high school senior last year, is now a college freshman, and hopefully, in about three years, will again be a senior, for one year. In contrast, my “senior” status is here to stay. So I decided to look into other terms I would feel more comfortable with.  

There are many possible synonyms for senior, and preferred terms have changed over time. Thankfully, current expressions have moved away from drawing attention to infirmities or declines in functioning. Examples of these offensive terms include “geezer,” usually referring to an older man who is ill-tempered or cranky, and “dinosaur,” which implies that the person is past their peak or out-of-touch with current trends.  I will never use those – except in this essay.  

The aging population in the US has been described as creating a “silver tsunami.” This refers to the baby boomers (born between 1946-1964), who started reaching the traditional retirement age (65) starting in 2011. I think this is also somewhat pejorative, as it often is used to refer to the increased health care needs that this population is likely to require. In addition, tsunamis are usually not welcome events.  

“Senior citizen” appears to identify someone who is older, and implies that the person has voting privileges and other rights in the country where they live. But our country has many older residents who are immigrants, and may not have the full slate of rights that citizens have. So this term doesn’t seem like the right one either. I like “elder,” which conveys wisdom, better than “elderly,” which implies physical or mental decline. But they both seem to point to individual characteristics, rather than a stage of life.   

Many recent changes in terminology for various groups has moved to a focus on the person rather than the condition. For example, someone who used to be called a “drug user” is now a “person who uses drugs,” and the phrase “person with a disability” is preferred to “disabled person.” But I don’t think this construction works as a replacement for “senior,” it feels awkward to replace it with “a person of many years.”   

The term “golden ager” generally refers to someone who is over 65 and has retired. It came into wide use in the US in the early 60s, as part of advertisements to encourage people to move to retirement communities, for a life of leisure, relaxation and the pursuit of personal interests. However, I hear this term often now used sarcastically, as some people age and find that health declines can make their lives more difficult and not a time of “golden years.”  

Finally, I found a term I like – “older adult.” It locates me as being well along on the life scale of adulthood, exactly where I am. I like it better than “older person” which could refer to almost any age, depending on one’s perspective. For example, someone who is 15 would be seen as an older person by a young child.  

I live in a housing complex that has a K-12 school on its premises. Recently, the senior class had an event for the seniors who live on site called “Seniors Serving Seniors.” They provided a dinner and an opportunity for each group to get to know each other. It was a fun time, and I got to talk to several bright young people. And we all knew who were really the Seniors and who were the Older Adults.