senioritis

1 9.8

Loss of motivation by students in their final year of high school or college

noun
/ˌsiːniˈɔːrɪtɪs/

Slang

: senioritis

She decided to fight her senioritis by setting new academic goals for her final term.

Examples

I think it's just a case of senioritis.

The Grace Card (2011)
You may have something like senioritis.

Sole Survivor (1984)
I don't mean senioritis exactly, but something like it.

Sole Survivor (1984)
Karen: Sounds like you're coming down with senioritis your freshman year.

Fiction book (1993)
And needless to say, procrastination and senioritis are not helping me.

Blog text (19)
I already got senioritis.

Life of the Party (2018)
During the spring semester, many students experience a feeling of senioritis as graduation approaches.
As the end of the year neared, his senioritis led him to slack off on his assignments.

Synonyms

case of schoolitis

vssenioritis

Slang

9.6

A short time when students feel very tired or do not want to study

applies specifically to final-year students losing effort because they expect graduation

Antonyms

motivation

348 2.7

A reason or desire that makes someone want to do something

How Demotivated

unmotivated

8 4.4

senioritis

Slang

1 9.8

boredom

85 1.3

Surface Forms

senioritis singular

senioritises plural

Morphology

senioritis = senior (semi-transparent) = senior + itis

Formally built from 'senior' + '-itis' as a humorous 'disease' of seniors; the medical suffix is metaphorical and may be unfamiliar to average learners.

Etymology

The word senioritis joins senior ('final-year student') and the ending -itis ('inflammation' or 'sickness'), like in arthritis, and was made as a joking medical-sounding term. So senioritis is a funny way to describe the drop in effort or loss of motivation many students feel as graduation gets near.