doddering 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of dodderingnext
as in senile

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Dissimilar Words

doddering

2 of 2

verb

present participle of dodder
as in lurching
to move forward while swaying from side to side was doddering down the walk outside the nursing home

Synonyms & Similar 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
Adjective
The secondary villain is a doddering, power-hungry elderly man with an unruly mop of hair and a flock of advisors who constantly shower him with unearned praise. — Ross Raihala, Twin Cities, 9 July 2025 According to a recent study, stock prices decline when younger CEOs die unexpectedly, while the sudden deaths of the doddering and wizened drive price spikes. — Samuel Moyn, Harpers Magazine, 21 Apr. 2026 The trio find work at the Planet Express Delivery Company, founded by Fry’s doddering descendant, Professor Hubert Farnsworth. — Michael Schneider, Variety, 21 July 2025 The show, which served as a precursor to such powerful reality programs as Keeping Up with The Kardashians, presented Osbourne as doddering, gibberish-spewing dad but one who adores his family unendingly. — Jim Farber, Billboard, 22 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for doddering
Recent Examples of Synonyms for doddering
  1. senile
  2. lurching
  3. elderly
  4. staggering
  5. decrepit
  6. tottering
  7. geriatric
  8. shuffling
Adjective
  • They are being given directions by a senile old man who is losing his mind.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 22 Mar. 2026
  • His older brother, played by Paul Wesley, has died under mysterious circumstances, forcing Ethan to return home to contend with that grief, with the stark fact of his senile mother, and with the resentments of former friends who view his departure as a betrayal.
    — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 18 Mar. 2026
Definition of senile
Verb
  • The same boom-and-bust dependency on the oil industry, whose profits were now funnelled through the regime and its allies, kept the country lurching from one crisis to the next.
    — Armando Ledezma, New Yorker, 30 June 2026
  • The old guard of the Democratic Party suffered another body blow when three socialist congressional candidates in New York with anti-Israel platforms swept to victory, lurching the party even further to the left.
    — Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 25 June 2026
Definition of lurching
Adjective
  • Never leave children, elderly adults or pets in a parked car or truck, even for a few minutes, even if the windows are open, public safety agencies warn.
    — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 3 July 2026
  • According to police, an elderly driver struck a vehicle, struck the pedestrians and then crashed into a building.
    — Jose Fabian, CBS News, 2 July 2026
Definition of elderly
Verb
  • The works depicted broken figures staggering toward the viewer in ragged uniforms — in distorted sizes, giant hands and small heads.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026
  • The works depicted broken figures staggering toward the viewer in ragged uniforms — in distorted sizes, giant hand and small heads.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 1 May 2026
Definition of staggering
Adjective
  • Since construction at the Eagle Rock site — so nicknamed after a decrepit colonnade — first stalled in 2008, the only thing that accumulated faster than the garbage and graffiti were the epithets from outraged community members.
    — Ryan Steven Green, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026
  • Now Trump wanted Hildebrand and two dozen other energy executives to commit to investing $100 billion in Venezuela’s decrepit oil industry.
    — Alex Cuadros, ProPublica, 16 June 2026
Definition of decrepit
Verb
  • In an accompanying cartoon, Spark is caricatured as a sulking giant, tottering above the Tuscan countryside in a pair of high heels.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 9 June 2026
  • Among them a City boy wearing three Fit-Bit-type devices, two beautiful Middle Eastern sisters, an outrageously pompous elderly American (sorry; eavesdropping), and several Imelda Marcos lookalikes, tottering out of the treatment rooms with, somehow, their elaborate hairstyles still intact.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Definition of tottering
Adjective
  • During the siege, he got used to doing everything from birthing babies to setting broken bones and caring for geriatric patients and those with chronic diseases.
    — Janine di Giovanni, Vanity Fair, 25 June 2026
  • Miami Jewish Health, which has the largest geriatric care center in the southeast United States and the largest nursing home in Florida, has had to reduce bed capacity by 120 at its nursing home, said Jason Pincus, vice president and nursing home administrator of the organization.
    — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 25 June 2026
Definition of geriatric
Verb
  • Enola dutifully trudges between clues and possibilities, shuffling through crime scenes and racing around shady spaces, all of this much more paint-by-numbers than connect-the-dots.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 30 June 2026
  • Colombia is trying its luck from distance, but Costa has been equal to each shot, first punching away Jefferson Lerma's rocket from the right, about 25 yards out, and then shuffling his feet to his left and catching Jhon Arias's shot from about the same distance.
    — NBC News, NBC news, 28 June 2026
Definition of shuffling

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Cite this Entry

“Doddering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/doddering. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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