Meaning

(archaic) An old person with impaired intellect; a senile person; one in their dotage..

Definitions by Sense

1. (archaic) An old person with impaired intellect; a senile person; one in their dotage.
2. (obsolete) One who dotes on another, showing excessive fondness; a doter.

Example Sentences

Dotard, (ſaide he) let be thy deepe aduiſe; Seemes that through many yeares thy wits thee faile, And that weake eld hath left thee nothing wiſe, Els neuer ſhould thy iudgement be ſo frayle, To meaſure manhood by the ſword or mayle.

I ſpeake not like a dotard, nor a foole, As vnder priuiledge of age to bragge, What I haue done being yong, or what would doe, Were I not old, […]

The man who had ſome virtue whilſt he was ſtruggling for a crown, often becomes a voluptuous tyrant when it graces his brow; and, when the lover is not loſt in the huſband, the dotard, a prey to childiſh caprices, and fond jealouſies, neglects the ſerious duties of life, and the careſſes which ſhould excite confidence in his children are laviſhed on the overgrown child, his wife.

Lawns, houses, chattels, groves, and fields, All that the fertile valley shields; Wages of folly--baits of crime, Of life's uneasy game the stake, Playthings that keep the eyes awake Of drowsy, dotard Time;—

He early determined to marry and wive, For better or worse With his elderly nurse, Which the poor little boy didn't live to contrive: His health didn't thrive— No longer alive, He died an enfeebled old dotard at five!

Whatever [Donald] Trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectation. I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged U. S. dotard with fire.

Word Forms

• dotards

Synonyms for dotard

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When Should You Use Dotard?

Use dotard when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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