😍 With great love 🧓 Weakly or foolishly

dotingly

9.9

In a weak, confused way like someone forgetting things

adverb
/ˈdoʊtɪŋli/

Archaic

: de manera tonta

She spoke dotingly, her words trailing off as if distracted by confusion.

Examples

He wandered dotingly through the garden, forgetting where he had intended to go.
The old man gazed dotingly at his childhood home, lost in distant memories.
He gazed dotingly!
The elderly man spoke dotingly of his late wife.
The elderly man spoke dotingly of his late wife, recalling their happiest moments together.
She looked at her grandchild dotingly, her smile reflecting her love and gentle nature.
As he reminisced, he described his youth dotingly, with a sense of nostalgia and tenderness.

Synonyms

feebly

vsdotingly

8 3.9

In a weak way that shows little energy

describes mental feebleness and senile weakness rather than physical frailty

dottily

vsdotingly

Informal

9.9

In a slightly silly or odd way

shows mental decline and weak mind rather than mild eccentricity

doltishly

vsdotingly

Offensive

9.7

In a foolish way without much thought

expresses age linked mental weakness rather than simple lack of sense

Antonyms

clearly

881 1.0

In a way that is easy to see, hear, or understand

rationally

56 3.9

In a clear, reasonable way based on facts

How Weak

dotingly

Archaic

9.9

feebly

8 3.9

weakly

35 1.0

Surface Forms

dotingly positive

Morphology

dotingly = doting (opaque) = dote + ing + ly

Although morphologically formed from 'doting' + '-ly', the sense 'showing mental decline or feebleness' is archaic/shifted and not predictable from the familiar modern sense of 'dote'.

Etymology

Dotingly comes from the same verb dote, which a long time ago also meant 'to act weak or foolish in the mind' and gave us the word dotard for a senile person. That's why dotingly can also mean 'in a weak or senile way'.