as in silly
showing or marked by a lack of good sense or judgment
dotty relatives that we have to endure only on Thanksgiving
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Recent Examples of dotty
People wanted to wear clothes at the cutting edge, which gave dotty fabrics woven by machine a natural fanbase among the society ladies who could afford them.
—
Natalie Hammond, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2025
Jones, Redgrave, and an unrecognizable Margot Kidder as their dotty landlady bravely expose their vulnerability.
—Armond White, National Review, 25 June 2025
This set by Studio Bloom takes two breakout shades of the year — butter yellow and mocha mousse — and elevates them for the season ahead with a dotty design.
—Mica Ricketts, Refinery29, 9 May 2025
Now, one of the largest celebrations of Kusama’s dotty world will debut at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).
—Mae Hamilton, Travel + Leisure, 9 Dec. 2024
Joanne and Morgan’s dotty mother, Lynn (Stephanie Faracy), dabbles in the metaphysical to constant mockery; their gay father, Henry (Michael Hitchcock), is rarely able to enjoy his own happiness.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2024
Smith starred as Joyce Chilvers, a small-town social climber in postwar Northern England whose hunger to be accepted by the elite locals isn’t helped by her dotty mother nor her underachieving podiatrist husband Gilbert, played by Michael Palin.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Sep. 2024
To play Sam’s dotty grandparents in Sixteen Candles, Hughes tapped a quartet of veteran character actors.
—John Russell, Peoplemag, 4 May 2024
Natalie Hammond, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2025
Jones, Redgrave, and an unrecognizable Margot Kidder as their dotty landlady bravely expose their vulnerability.
—Armond White, National Review, 25 June 2025
This set by Studio Bloom takes two breakout shades of the year — butter yellow and mocha mousse — and elevates them for the season ahead with a dotty design.
—Mica Ricketts, Refinery29, 9 May 2025
Now, one of the largest celebrations of Kusama’s dotty world will debut at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).
—Mae Hamilton, Travel + Leisure, 9 Dec. 2024
Joanne and Morgan’s dotty mother, Lynn (Stephanie Faracy), dabbles in the metaphysical to constant mockery; their gay father, Henry (Michael Hitchcock), is rarely able to enjoy his own happiness.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2024
Smith starred as Joyce Chilvers, a small-town social climber in postwar Northern England whose hunger to be accepted by the elite locals isn’t helped by her dotty mother nor her underachieving podiatrist husband Gilbert, played by Michael Palin.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Sep. 2024
To play Sam’s dotty grandparents in Sixteen Candles, Hughes tapped a quartet of veteran character actors.
—John Russell, Peoplemag, 4 May 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dotty
Adjective
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In retaliation, Afroman released several songs about the experience, made music videos using his security-cam footage, and generally was a silly goose about the whole thing.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
-
This confident Yale Rep production follows Ionesco’s lead by being very clear about its point but relentlessly silly while making it.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Of all the live-action shows made by Adult Swim, Three Busy Debras is the most cartoonish; its world is as elastic and stupid as any Chuck Jones Looney Tunes joint.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Anyone who says anything else is stupid or lying.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Your fast response and decisive actions prevented this foolish criminal act from endangering the rest of the county.—
Christa Swanson,
CBS News,
18 Mar. 2026
-
The limited series feels equally foolish, down to its last line of narration.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Local bookstores were, at the time, folding en masse, and people were mad about the growing predominance of chain retail.—
Henry Grabar,
The Atlantic,
14 Mar. 2026
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Even conservatives are mad, writes columnist Anita Chabria.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The first six years of the Black Crowes were insane to process.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
19 Mar. 2026
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An optimist and networker with Harpo Marx hair, he was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame in 2023 for helping invent the HTTPS encryption system and was among the first to take AI seriously, back when AI seemed even more insane.—
Joe Hagan,
Vanity Fair,
18 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Shawn Hatosy is particularly feral here, injecting real menace into an otherwise absurd premise.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
20 Mar. 2026
-
The deadpan one-liners exaggerating his strength, speed and toughness to absurd levels, turned Norris into one of the internet’s first global memes.—
Bryan Alexander,
USA Today,
20 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Putting on the fedora and grabbing the whip — like, Jesus, that had to feel crazy.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
16 Mar. 2026
-
His passions outside of covering baseball are his wife, Gina, his two step kids, two crazy dogs & barbecue.—
Evan Grant,
Dallas Morning News,
16 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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This genre parody of Steven Segal action films and post-9/11 media like 24 is a show-within-a-show spun off Adult Swim web series On Cinema at the Cinema, wherein Tim Heidecker plays an evil, buffoonish, idiotic, shallow, narcissistic, Trumpian version of himself.—
Eric Vilas-Boas,
Vulture,
18 Mar. 2026
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We were just stunned by my idiotic behavior, but that idea that of the constancy was suddenly were wiped.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
2 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dotty.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dotty. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.
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