elderspeak

E1L1D2E1R1S1P3E1A1K5

noun

A simplified, patronizing speech style used by younger adults when addressing elderly people.

Scrabble 17
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounelderspeak (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA simplified, patronizing speech style used by younger adults when addressing elderly people.

    In this case, the “communicative predicament of aging” is that elderspeak led to a decrease in the older adults' self-ratings of communicative competence yet it also improved their performance on the referential communication tasks.

    1998, Norbert Schwarz, Cognition, Aging and Self-Reports, page 193

Origin

From elder + -speak.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

elderspeak. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elderspeak

MLA

“elderspeak.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elderspeak. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “elderspeak,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elderspeak.

Source: elderspeak on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.