as in senile
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Dissimilar Words
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
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Recent Examples of doddering
Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2025
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 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
Does the diagnosis explain Biden’s occasionally doddering affect?
—Adam B. Kushner, New York Times, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for doddering
Adjective
Sure, this doddering middle-aged version of Ozzy Osbourne was every bit as much a persona as the earlier guy.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2025
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 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
Does the diagnosis explain Biden’s occasionally doddering affect?
—Adam B. Kushner, New York Times, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for doddering
Recent Examples of Synonyms for doddering
Adjective
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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
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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
Verb
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Still, morale is much worse compared with December 2024, before DOGE took aim at the health agency's budgets and staffing, and before rounds of lurching job cuts and reinstatements left thousands of CDC workers in limbo or severed from their careers.—
Pien Huang,
NPR,
25 Mar. 2026
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There are plenty of differences, but the stability Atleti have fostered in sticking with Simeone stands in stark contrast to Spurs’ habit of lurching between managers, styles and approaches.—
Dermot Corrigan,
New York Times,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Long drives are a big part of life in rural America, but transportation is uniquely challenging for people who are ill, elderly or both.—
Caleb Hellerman,
CNN Money,
29 Mar. 2026
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Rodgers faces a misdemeanor assault charge against an elderly or disabled individual, according to Rubinson.—
Miriam Fauzia,
Dallas Morning News,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Instead of staggering the fests and conferences over nine or 11 days, everything is now crammed into the same seven-day period, including film and TV, education, comedy and tech.—
Thor Christensen,
Dallas Morning News,
18 Mar. 2026
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Add additional rows of blocks, staggering them over the previous layer and using construction adhesive between rows.—
Daniel Modlin,
Architectural Digest,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Goma is married as a 7-year-old to a decrepit 70-year-old man.—
Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz,
The Conversation,
24 Mar. 2026
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The island’s decrepit power system uses aging thermal power plants from the former Soviet Union.—
Janet Loehrke,
USA Today,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Models are tottering on the cobblestoned Bond Street with their heels getting stuck in the rivets.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
13 Feb. 2026
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Now, even that tiny effort is tottering.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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This is the same for emergency departments that seek to be accredited as Geriatric Emergency Departments — criteria include screening for dementia with few specifics about managing it beyond recommendations that apply to geriatric care more broadly.—
Gabriela Khazanov,
STAT,
25 Mar. 2026
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Ted Rosenberg quit teaching geriatric medicine after 30 years because his employer, the University of British Columbia, was too tolerant.—
Jesse Brown,
The Atlantic,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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These chips spend most of their energy shuffling data between a memory unit and a processor.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Mar. 2026
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So what better way to cap all that off than closing out the Oscars — even if the clip played while the audience was shuffling out of the theater and calling their Ubers.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
16 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Doddering.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/doddering. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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