Dotard

//ˈdəʊ.təd// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An old person with impaired intellect; a senile person; one in their dotage. archaic

    "Dotard, (ſaide he) let be thy deepe aduiſe; Seemes that through many yeares thy wits thee faile, And that weake eld hath left thee nothing wiſe, Els neuer ſhould thy iudgement be ſo frayle, To meaſure manhood by the ſword or mayle."

  2. 2
    an oldster in their dotage; someone whose age has impaired their intellect wordnet
  3. 3
    One who dotes on another, showing excessive fondness; a doter. obsolete

Synonyms

All synonyms
mimmerkincentenariandobbydodipoledotedotel

Example

More examples

"Dotard, (ſaide he) let be thy deepe aduiſe; Seemes that through many yeares thy wits thee faile, And that weake eld hath left thee nothing wiſe, Els neuer ſhould thy iudgement be ſo frayle, To meaſure manhood by the ſword or mayle."

Etymology

From Middle English dotard; equivalent to dote + -ard.

More for "dotard"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.