sénior

• sênior (Brazilian Portuguese spelling)

Learned borrowing from Latin senior, influenced also by English senior. Doublet of senhor.

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -ɛniɔɾ, -ɛnjɔɾ
• Hyphenation: sé‧ni‧or

sénior m or f (plural seniores or (nonstandard) séniores or (nonstandard) séniors) (European Portuguese spelling)

1. senior; older
2. senior (higher in rank, dignity or office)

   desenvolvedor sénior ― senior developer

3. (sports) senior (of or pertaining to a league or competition limited to players above a certain age or level of experience, usually the age of 18)

sénior m (plural seniores or (nonstandard) séniores or (nonstandard) séniors) (European Portuguese spelling)

1. senior (someone older than someone else)
2. senior (someone deserving respect or reverence)
3. (sports) a senior athlete (an athlete above a certain age or level of experience, usually the age of 18)

This word’s plural is prescriptively seniores, a paroxytone word; however, it is commonly pronounced with stress on the fourth-to-last syllable, leading to the proscribed forms and spellings séniores / sêniores. Though this type of stress is not usually possible in Portuguese, the pronunciation has a rising diphthong that reduces the number of syllables realized in the word. Additionally, the form sêniors, based on English seniors, is common in Brazil. Compare júnior.

• “sénior”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

• senior

Borrowed from Latin senior. Doublet of señor.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsenjoɾ/ [ˈse.njoɾ]
• Rhymes: -enjoɾ
• Syllabification: sé‧nior

sénior m or f (masculine and feminine plural séniores or séniors)

1. senior

sénior m (plural séniores or séniors)

1. senior

• “sénior”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• Manuel Seco; Olimpia Andrés; Gabino Ramos (3 August 2023), “sénior”, in Diccionario del español actual [Dictionary of Current Spanish] (in Spanish), third digital edition, Fundación BBVA [BBVA Foundation]