dotage

noun

dot·​age ˈdō-tij 

plural dotages

: a state or period of old age especially when accompanied by mental decline

People who obviously pity my dotage have a well-meant but disagreeable habit of reminding me that Sophocles wrote his best plays at 80.

—Bernard Shaw

The last time I saw Bette Davis, she was in her dotage, the painful ravages of cancer and a paralyzing stroke cruelly evident.

—Rex Reed

Synonyms

• caducity
• second childhood
• senility

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

Even in his relative dotage, the 17-year vet is averaging 29.0 points on .533/.455/.813 shooting splits, 7.0 boards, 3.0 dimes, 1.8 blocks, and 1.0 swipes per contest — while playing a stunning 40 minutes per. —Nina Turner, Newsweek, 29 Oct. 2024

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

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from doten to dote

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above