dotty
1 Americanadjective
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crazy or eccentric.
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feeble or unsteady in gait.
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very enthusiastic or infatuated (usually followed by about orover ).
adjective
adjective
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slang feeble-minded; slightly crazy
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slang (foll by about) extremely fond (of)
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marked with dots
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dotty1
1805–15; perhaps dott(ard) variant of dotard + -y 1
Origin of dotty2
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:
Lise has run-ins with other passengers aboard her flight and, once at her destination, befriends a bumbling, dotty widow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Then, in 2024, he had to have the dotty idea to throw himself into contention for the vice presidency.
From Slate ● Jan. 10, 2026
"If you see someone on the M40 looking particularly dotty," she told a surprised reporter, "it's me trying to rap in the car going home."
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2025
Versatile and assured, Sternhagen played women who were folksy, regal, plain-spoken and glamorous, although she had a special fondness for dotty eccentrics and snobby patricians.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
We like to regard the olfactory bulb as a sort of archeologic find, and we speak of the ancient olfactory parts of the brain as though they were elderly, dotty relatives in need of hobbies.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
He has, however, replaced it with one that is, if anything, even dottier.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 10, 2011
The whole idea – driven, apparently, by the need to get more southern bums on northern seats to fulfil contract pledges – couldn't be dottier.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 24, 2010
When Heartbreak House was presented last week under Welles's direction and with himself in the leading role of 88-year-old Captain Shotover, even the dottiest Mercury fan could not help having qualms.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
