dotard
Americannoun
-
a person exhibiting a decline in mental faculties, especially as a result of aging.
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of dotard
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English doterd, dooterd, dootarde; see origin at dote, -ard
Explanation
You might think of the eccentric old man next door as a dotard, but it wouldn't be very polite to refer to him that way out loud. A dotard is a person who's old and senile. The noun dotard used to be a standard way to insult someone by implying that they were physically and mentally decrepit. Shakespeare, Chaucer, and J.R.R. Tolkien all used it regularly as a put-down between characters. Dotard is much less common these days. It comes from the Middle Low German doten, "be foolish," and when correctly pronounced, it rhymes with goatherd.
Vocabulary lists containing dotard
This Week in Words: September 17 - 24, 2017
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Much Ado About Nothing
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Mr. Shapiro concluded: “That said, the imagery of a dotard who can barely form words from his face-hole actually being a laser-eyed deathlord is pretty hilarious.”
From Washington Times ● Aug. 10, 2022
The dictator responded with a heckling that briefly make the term "dotard" the world of the day.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2022
Even with all her love, there was only so much that could be done for the poor dotard and so on.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 20, 2020
When words and phrases like "wack job," "mentally deranged" and "dotard" are exchanged, it's no surprise the U.S. and North Korea aren't allies.
From Fox News ● Feb. 12, 2020
I will not step down to be the dotard chamberlain of an upstart.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Children are not childish all through any more than dotards are dotards all through.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some 20 minutes later the two dotards, traveling at their turtle pace, reached the 18th green, approached the greenskeeper.
From Time Magazine Archive
Skinner's big fresh idea results in the retention of dotards; in a picture feeble, mild as goose milk.
From Time Magazine Archive
When Premier Blum next day entered the Senatorial Bastille, all his bridges had been burned by the "dotards" demonstration of the afternoon before.
From Time Magazine Archive
They were not content to despise—they regarded the gentle dotards of the preceding generation, the visionary idealists, the humanitarian thinkers of the preceding generation, as public malefactors.
From Jean-Christophe Journey's End by Cannan, Gilbert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
