dotage

noun

dot·​age ˈdō-tij How to pronounce dotage (audio)
: a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness

Examples of dotage in a Sentence

he's now in that stage of his dotage where he has trouble remembering the simplest things
Recent Examples on the Web Helen must have told it to herself, in her dotage, long after the ships had sailed home from Troy. Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 11 Apr. 2024 Only in the last decade or so, as Jerry tiptoes into his dotage, has the organizational chart come into focus. Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 24 Apr. 2023 Apparently some of us nodded off in our dotage. Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 4 Aug. 2020 The conversation, held at the start of his career as a singer, raises one of the many questions that Diamond faces both in his youth and in his dotage. A.d. Amorosi, Variety, 5 Dec. 2022 The generations of theatergoers who grew up on book musicals, replete with original songs that were written in a distinctive Broadway style, with roots in operetta and Tin Pan Alley, are in their dotage now. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 27 Nov. 2022 The passions of youth wobbled within a body run to seed; the simple pleasures of Elvis in the youth of his golden Sun recordings flowered into the sickly extravagance of Elvis in his lusting, swollen Vegas dotage. Dominic Green, WSJ, 21 Jan. 2022 Barry Bonds, however he was mysteriously fueled in his dotage, was amazing. Bob Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Sep. 2022 Trevorrow is able to mine from individual action sequences, how tame even T. rex now seems in its late-franchise dotage. Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dotage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from doten to dote

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of dotage was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near dotage

Cite this Entry

“Dotage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dotage. Accessed 27 Jun. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!