dote

American  

[doht] / doʊt /

verb (used without object)

doted, doting

1. to bestow or express excessive love or fondness habitually (usually followed by on orupon ).

   They dote on their youngest daughter.

2. to show a decline of mental faculties, especially associated with old age.

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noun

1. decay of wood.

dote British  

/ dəʊt /

verb

1. to love to an excessive or foolish degree

2. to be foolish or weak-minded, esp as a result of old age

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Other Word Forms

• doter noun

Etymology

Origin of dote

1175–1225; Middle English doten “to behave foolishly, become feeble-minded”; cognate with Middle Dutch doten

Example Sentences

She softens the character’s steely edges, turning a proud and almost rapacious woman into a mere doting mom.

From The Wall Street Journal

Deciphering whether Kim Jong Un is merely a doting father or a long-term planner is what has drawn intense debate.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s not clear why the doting parents were both absent, “but we are sure they had their reasons as they have been incubating the eggs faithfully,” the nonprofit wrote in its “Eagle Log.”

From Los Angeles Times

Leaving the "doting and loving grandmother" alone with 10 XL Bullies, banned in England just two days before the attack, was "a recipe for disaster", prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC said.

From BBC

As a young adult, Fern enjoyed what appeared to be a happy marriage to Charles “Handsome Charlie” Eldredge, a doting bank cashier, before tragedy struck, and struck again.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cherish