Geriatric describes things related to elderly people, especially their medical care and health needs. A geriatric doctor specializes in treating older patients, understanding how bodies change with age and what health challenges become more common in later years.

The word is most often used in medical contexts. A hospital might have a geriatric ward designed specifically for elderly patients, with equipment and staff trained to handle their particular needs. Geriatric medicine recognizes that treating an 80-year-old requires different knowledge than treating a 20-year-old, since medications can work differently, healing can take longer, and certain conditions become more likely.

Sometimes people use geriatric more casually (and not always kindly) to describe anything old and worn out, like calling an ancient, barely-working computer “geriatric.” But the word's proper meaning focuses on the medical and care aspects of aging, without any negative judgment about growing older itself.

The related word geriatrics (with an 's') refers to the whole field of medicine devoted to elderly care, while geriatrician describes a doctor who practices in this specialty.