What does "dotterel" mean?

A gullible fool, especially an elderly person with impaired faculties.

What is a synonym for "dotterel"?

Common synonyms include: charadrius morinellus, decayed, dote, dotrel, dupe, eudromias morinellus.

/ˈdɒtɹəl/ adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A gullible fool, especially an elderly person with impaired faculties.
"This poor dotterel, Sir Arthur, is playing fast and loose with me."
2
rare plover of upland areas of Eurasia wordnet
3
A small brown-and-black bird of species Charadrius morinellus, of the plover family.
4
Any of various small birds of Australasia thought to resemble the Eurasian dotterel. Australia, New-Zealand

Adjective

"This poor dotterel, Sir Arthur, is playing fast and loose with me."

15th century. From dote (“to be foolish; senile”) + -rel (“pejorative suffix”). The bird is so named as it is easy to catch.