dote
Americanverb (used without object)
-
dotes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
doted,
past participle, past
-
doting
present participle
-
to bestow or express excessive love or fondness habitually (usually followed by on orupon ).
They dote on their youngest daughter.
-
to show a decline of mental faculties, especially associated with old age.
noun
verb
-
to love to an excessive or foolish degree
-
to be foolish or weak-minded, esp as a result of old age
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dotesimple
-
dotessimple
-
have dotedperfect
-
has dotedperfect
-
am dotingprogressive
-
are dotingprogressive
-
is dotingprogressive
-
have been dotingperfect progressive
-
has been dotingperfect progressive
Past
-
dotedsimple
-
had dotedperfect
-
was dotingprogressive
-
were dotingprogressive
-
had been dotingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dote
1175–1225; Middle English doten “to behave foolishly, become feeble-minded”; cognate with Middle Dutch doten
Explanation
Who doesn't love to have someone dote on them? If you dote on someone, you shower them with love and attention. Sounds like the life! Parents that dote on their children too much might find themselves in trouble down the road; all that unadulterated devotion is a surefire way to spoil your kid. The problem is that those who are doing the doting are often too smitten to see when the object of their affection is acting like a complete jerk. No wonder dote is related to a German word that means "to be foolish." That connection might also explain the use of dote to mean acting senile in one's later years.
Vocabulary lists containing dote
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Love Letter Words for Valentine's Day
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
They all high-fived, asked about each other’s families and went to dote on Ali’s 1-year-old daughter — Krug’s granddaughter, Eloise — who wore a shirt that traversed 50 years of family and friendship.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
Actor-comedian Anthony Anderson is a proud mama’s boy and loves to dote on his mother, Doris.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
He handles all the boring life matters like bills for us and I dote on him.
From Slate ● Dec. 2, 2022
As Cacciatore awaits the veterinarian, she and a frequent farm guest, 57-year-old Jill Loforte Carroll, dote on the sheep.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 19, 2022
You ain’t never seen a brother and sister dote upon each other the way Lily and Jackson do.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
She dotes on her husband, who suffers from dementia and comes to terms with all the paraphernalia and recordings from her career that she hoarded for decades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Graves, who travels with his wife and dotes on his grandchildren, says he had a very successful career and has a very full life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2025
But Shaimaa dotes on Zeina, calling her “princess,” hiding her tears - and her fears for the future - from her.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2024
As Mina gets increasingly sick, her body withering away, her husband dotes on her: He washes her hair, helps her change, brings the sweetness of a fruit to her lips.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 7, 2023
Women in cells at the other end tell Malachy he’s gorgeous and the twins are dotes.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
He doted on the music of Rachmaninoff when Rachmaninoff was unfashionable and on Steve Reich when Reich was found unfathomable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
Of course, ABC would make one of its core players the gauzy focus of a post-Oscars special, doted on by many of the 22 women who came before Paul.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
Known to the children as “aunty” or “grandma,” Johnson would treat them to dips in the pool at the Raffles and doted on them at the center.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
He’s been well-educated in this bunker, even doted upon by all of these adults — his parents and the few others they allowed to come with them.
From New York Times ● Dec. 5, 2024
His grandparents on Oahu doted on both him and his younger half sister Maya.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
The doting boyfriend, the overzealous best friend, the snide coworker, the absentee mother — played here by Kristen Johnston, whose character’s name is ingeniously spelled “Beverlee.”
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
"So am I," Kim replied, doting on the doll.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
She said her son, who had a life-long passion for cars, was the "most loving, laid-back, sensitive man" who was a doting father to his own son.
From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2026
We’re a long way from Norman Rockwell’s Saturday Evening Post portraits of doting parents taking their rosy-cheeked children to the avuncular family doctor for back-to-school checkups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
Olivia, from her place in the attic, does her soliloquy about how Julie uses the doting Chet and what Julie really thinks of him.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
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.
