A speech disorder in which one’s ability to comprehend spoken or written words, and to process words into thoughts, is severely impaired. Repetition is intact, and speech sounds fluent, but phrases uttered are generally meaningless.
Example: An elderly woman seems unable to understand your words and speaks gibberish in reply. She responds well to gestures, however.
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 2 Nov 2008