doddering

American  

[dod-er-ing] / ˈdɒd ər ɪŋ /

Also doddery

adjective

1. shaky or trembling, as from old age; tottering.

   a doddering old man.

---

doddering British  

/ ˈdɒdərɪŋ /

adjective

1. shaky, feeble, or infirm, esp from old age

---

Etymology

Origin of doddering

First recorded in 1735–45; dodder ¹ + -ing ²

Explanation

Doddering means "physically or mentally impaired due to old age," like a doddering person who can no longer live alone without assistance from family members or a visiting nurse. The adjective doddering comes from the Middle English word daderen "to quake, tremble." That shakiness, in movement and even in thoughts, is one quality of doddering people. It is important to be patient with those who are doddering, because like the word sounds, they are trying to still be mobile, still be part of the world around them, even if they feel more shaky as they get older.

Example Sentences

With characteristic savagery, Wolff portrayed Murdoch as a doddering nonagenarian unable to parse the changes in the cable business and unwilling to accept that American conservatism’s center of gravity had shifted away from him.

From Slate • May 15, 2024

Some aides, according to Axios, wish Mr. Biden would more often show this side of him to counter concerns that the 80-year-old is too doddering for office amid frequent oral gaffes.

From Washington Times • Jul. 11, 2023

Let Silicon Valley chase a sleek future of frictionless rectangles and orbs: Brian’s creation, Charles, is a towering, homemade shambles with gray hair and a doddering shuffle that gives the impression of a retired sheepherder.

From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2022

Morton brings a refreshing comic spryness to Lear, playing him not as a doddering old man but as a vivacious, scampering jokester who expects to be treated as the life of the party.

From Los Angeles Times • May 16, 2022

I thought of the doddering old war veterans who sat along the gallery in front of the cotton gin and spat their tobacco and bored everybody with the same stories they’d been telling for decades.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly