dote
Americanverb (used without object)
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dotes,
present (3rd person singular)
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doted,
past participle, past
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doting
present participle
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to bestow or express excessive love or fondness habitually (usually followed by on orupon ).
They dote on their youngest daughter.
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to show a decline of mental faculties, especially associated with old age.
noun
verb
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to love to an excessive or foolish degree
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to be foolish or weak-minded, esp as a result of old age
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dotesimple
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dotessimple
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have dotedperfect
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has dotedperfect
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am dotingprogressive
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are dotingprogressive
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is dotingprogressive
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have been dotingperfect progressive
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has been dotingperfect progressive
Past
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dotedsimple
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had dotedperfect
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was dotingprogressive
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were dotingprogressive
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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
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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:
He remembered a mother “with a great sense of humor and a sarcastic wit” who liked to dote on her Chihuaha-dachshund mix, Hercules, and attend daily Mass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 2, 2024
Actor-comedian Anthony Anderson is a proud mama’s boy and loves to dote on his mother, Doris.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
As heartwarming as it is to see Andrés kiss and hug and dote on his daughters, the interactions are, literally, made for TV.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 26, 2022
He handles all the boring life matters like bills for us and I dote on him.
From Slate ● Dec. 2, 2022
It sounded to Polly that Mr. Derby admonished his wife almost as if he were speaking to a child, but he also seemed to dote on her.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
He dotes on dogs and horses but a family seems unlikely.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
"She's super tiny, her breath smells so bad, and she doesn't have a meow," the singer dotes.
From BBC ● Jan. 19, 2025
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
Data from Canada have shown that babies are effective transmitters of the coronavirus to other household members “because everybody dotes around the baby. So just be aware of that,” Chin-Hong said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2022
“It would be a grand thing for one of those girls, wouldn’t it? Sallie says they are very intimate now, and the old man quite dotes on them.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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 doted on his granddaughters - he really did," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025
She doted on her cats and her exotic orchids, and was known to neighbors for her delicious homemade bread.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
She doted on changing hats at every opportunity.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
"So am I," Kim replied, doting on the doll.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
He didn’t even mention Artemis in his most recent State of the Union speech, instead doting on the U.S.
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2026
Fans won’t ever know exactly why the doting parents lapsed in their watch of the eggs a month ago, though the nonprofit believes they had their reasons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
However, Miranda added that the doting mother had "recovered well from her ordeal".
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
Occasionally one comes across parents who take the opposite line, who show no interest at all in their children, and these of course are far worse than the doting ones.
From "Matilda" by Roald Dahl
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.
