1.
[syn: dotage, second childhood, senility]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Dotage \Do"tage\, n. [From Dote, v. i.]
1. Feebleness or imbecility of understanding or mind,
particularly in old age; the childishness of old age;
senility; as, a venerable man, now in his dotage.
[1913 Webster]
Capable of distinguishing between the infancy and
the dotage of Greek literature. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
2. Foolish utterance; drivel.
[1913 Webster]
The sapless dotages of old Paris and Salamanca. --
Milton.
[1913 Webster]
3. Excessive fondness; weak and foolish affection.
[1913 Webster]
The dotage of the nation on presbytery. -- Bp.
Burnet.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
dotage
n 1: mental infirmity as a consequence of old age; sometimes
shown by foolish infatuations [syn: dotage, second
childhood, senility]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
68 Moby Thesaurus words for "dotage":
advanced age, advanced years, age, age of retirement,
an incurable disease, anility, blind faith, caducity, childishness,
credulity, credulousness, debility, decline, decline of life,
declining years, decrepitude, disposition to believe, dotardism,
ease of belief, eld, elderliness, feebleness, fondness,
green old age, gross credulity, hale old age, hoary age,
infatuation, infirm old age, infirmity, infirmity of age,
longevity, old age, oldness, overcredulity, overcredulousness,
overopenness to conviction, overtrustfulness, pensionable age,
rash conviction, ricketiness, ripe old age, second childhood,
senectitude, senile debility, senile dementia, senile psychosis,
senile weakness, senilism, senility, senior citizenship,
superannuation, the downward slope, the golden years, trustfulness,
uncritical acceptance, uncriticalness, unquestioning belief,
unripe acceptation, unskepticalness, unsuspectingness,
unsuspiciousness, vale of years, white hairs, will to believe,
willingness to believe, wishful belief, wishful thinking