as in lurching
to move forward while swaying from side to side
was doddering down the walk outside the nursing home
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in senile
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of doddering
Adam B. Kushner, New York Times, 21 May 2025
Even that sounds dismissive like Flynn is some doddering old man.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 22 Mar. 2025
As many Democrats in Congress have struggled to respond to the fire hose of disruption—at times seeming downright doddering in response to the White House’s potential upending of the constitutional order—the 53-year-old Schatz has helped his party find their footing.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 10 Feb. 2025
All this time, a smiling, doddering old man in a tuxedo had been ambling about, tending to guests and waiting on tables.
—Youmna Melhem Chamieh, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for doddering
Verb
Does the diagnosis explain Biden’s occasionally doddering affect?
—Adam B. Kushner, New York Times, 21 May 2025
Even that sounds dismissive like Flynn is some doddering old man.
—Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 22 Mar. 2025
As many Democrats in Congress have struggled to respond to the fire hose of disruption—at times seeming downright doddering in response to the White House’s potential upending of the constitutional order—the 53-year-old Schatz has helped his party find their footing.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 10 Feb. 2025
All this time, a smiling, doddering old man in a tuxedo had been ambling about, tending to guests and waiting on tables.
—Youmna Melhem Chamieh, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for doddering
Recent Examples of Synonyms for doddering
Verb
-
The administration’s lurching one way and another with tariffs is another example.—
Erik Sherman,
Forbes.com,
20 Sep. 2025
-
The title track opens the affair by lurching and creeping forward for ten minutes with odd, off-putting lyrics.—
Jed Gottlieb,
Boston Herald,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Back on the domestic front, Jeanine has reason to believe that her husband, Paul (Mark O’Brien), is having an affair with her senile mother’s caregiver.—
Michael Rechtshaffen,
The Hollywood Reporter,
9 Sep. 2023
-
Don Quixote himself is too often a senile dodderer; Daniel Rubin was creaky in body but youthfully quixotic in spirit.—
Jeffrey Gantz,
BostonGlobe.com,
17 Mar. 2023
Verb
-
The young men in Bruins blue and gold staggering off the field afterwards dazed, confused.—
Mirjam Swanson,
Oc Register,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Roughly two-thirds of the state’s billionaires made their fortunes in finance and investments, including richest resident (former NYC mayor) Michael Bloomberg, who’s worth staggering $109 billion.—
Ella Malmgren,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
One has multiple young children and an elderly dog who had already gotten into physical fights with Oli.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
4 Oct. 2025
-
On the eve of sentencing, Combs submitted a personal letter to the judge asking for leniency, referencing his seven children and elderly mother.—
Hannah Parry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The former property manager had briefly tried to move Daniels into a less decrepit unit – but did not follow through with tenants on recurring issues.—
Ilana Arougheti,
Kansas City Star,
18 Sep. 2025
-
But Cuba’s decrepit regime is too afraid to seriously open up its economy, fearing that greater economic freedom will lead to escalating demands for political freedoms.—
Andres Oppenheimer
September 17,
Miami Herald,
17 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
To him, the equipment staff shuffling pieces around on the field during practice is just as important as the head coach standing by.—
Christopher Kamrani,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
-
During the 2024 rampage, two suspects wearing masks were captured on surveillance video shuffling up a driveway and firing weapons towards the home.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Yet that same 30-year period saw a flurry of research and activity to try to reduce geriatric falls and their potentially devastating consequences, from hip fractures and brain bleeds to restricted mobility, persistent pain, and institutionalization.—
Paula Span,
Miami Herald,
25 Sep. 2025
-
Even before she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska (2002), the 95-year-old actor had been a go-to Everygrandma, doling out enough geriatric sass to make the Golden Girls bow down yet doing so in the most polite, Midwestern way imaginable.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
By the time the five members of Tomorrow X Together (TXT for short) appear, not from the stage but through the pit doors, weaving past the barricades and into the sea of fans, the noise has swelled to seismic levels.—
Crystal Bell,
Rolling Stone,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Created by Emmy Award winner Lena Waithe, The Chi premiered in 2018 and quickly became a defining work in contemporary television, weaving together the lives of Chicago residents in a unique way.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
1 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Doddering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/doddering. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share