Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person who is in his or her dotage.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun one who is in his dotage or second childhood; one whose intellect is impaired by age.
  • noun One who is foolishly fond; one who dotes.
  • noun An aged, decaying tree.
  • Doting; imbecile.
  • Decayed, as a tree

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One whose mind is impaired by age; one in second childhood.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An old person with impaired intellect; one in his or her dotage.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an oldster in his dotage; someone whose age has impaired his intellect

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from doten, to dote.]

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Examples

  • Lord Wellington is, for you, only a decayed old gentleman now: I rather think some of you have called him a 'dotard' - you have taunted him with his age, and the loss of his physical vigour.

    Shirley, by Charlotte Bronte 2004

  • On a small island of the southern Atlantic, is shut up a remarkable prisoner, wearing himself out there in a feeble mixture of peevishness and jealousy, solaced by no great thoughts and no heroic spirit; a kind of dotard before the time, killing and consuming himself by the intense littleness into which he has shrunk.

    Sermons for the New Life. 1802-1876 1876

  • Valhar was growing old now but was far from in his dotard.

    Conan Fan Fiction! Cromsblood 2009

  • Valhar was growing old now but was far from in his dotard.

    Archive 2009-12-01 Reis O'Brien 2009

  • This was her story: she'd been staying at some fashionable spa where the German Emperor, an amiable dotard with whom, as Blowitz had said, she was on friendly terms, had sent for her in great agitation.

    Watershed 2010

  • And if there's one thing we should consider as the debate rages up on high about propping up this addled dotard, it's GM's long string of criminal, that's right, criminal, behavior over the last century.

    Rebekah and Stephen Hren: Let GM Get Crushed Like It Crushed the EV1 2009

  • Painting McSame as an confused, out-ot-touch dotard works.

    Biden Uncorks Tough Populist Hit On McCain Over "Fundamentals" Line 2009

  • A lot of people may be telling pollsters they support McSame, but, when they get into the voting booth, they won't be able to pull the lever for the old dotard.

    Obama Still Way Ahead In Post-Debate Polling 2009

  • There are some voters who will simply never vote for the black guy, even if the the alternative is to cast a ballot for the dotard/idiot ticket.

    Obama Expanding His Lead In The Tracking Polls 2009

  • “I conjecture,” replied Fabian, “that she speaks of an old dotard, who is, I think, the general referee concerning the history and antiquities of this old town, and of the savage family that lived here perhaps before the flood.”

    Castle Dangerous 2008

Comments

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  • Citation on codger.

    September 18, 2008