dotage
Mental decline's season
Dotage is the period of mental decline in old age, when faculties weaken and judgment falters.
The word usually implies feebleness or senility: He's in his dotage now, barely recognizes his children.
To be in one's dotage suggests being past one's prime, sometimes used with gentle mockery for anyone showing signs of aging: Don't mind me—I'm in my dotage.
Chronic cognitive impairment
- Alzheimer'sDegenerative brain disease
- confusionMental disorientation or bewilderment
- forgetfulnessFailure to retain information
- disorientationLoss of spatial awareness
senility · muddleheadedness · absentmindedness · incoherence · befuddlement · addled · rambling · wandering
Gradual functional decline with age
- decrepitudeWornness from age
- infirmityWeakness from illness or age
- frailtyWeakness of body
- feeblenessLack of strength
deterioration · weakness · enfeeblement · waning · fading · decay · diminishment · debilitation
Warm liking or affection
- indulgentToo willing to yield
- besottedIntoxicated by love or drink
- adoringShowing deep affection
- devotedLoyally and lovingly attached
cherishing · sentimental · spoiling · fawning · overindulgent · tender · loving · soft-hearted
Practical knowledge from life
- sagacityPenetrating mental acuity
- reminiscenceRecalling past experiences
- hindsightRecognition after the fact
- reflectionReturned light or thought
storytelling · memories · elder · patriarch · matriarch · venerable · seasoned · perspective
Openness to harm
- helplessnessLacking ability to cope
- dependenceState of needing another
- caregiverOne providing daily assistance
- fragilityEase of breaking
susceptibility · defenselessness · reliance · support · wheelchair · walker
dementia
Chronic cognitive impairment
- Alzheimer'sDegenerative brain disease
- confusionMental disorientation or bewilderment
- forgetfulnessFailure to retain information
disorientation · senility · muddleheadedness · absentmindedness · incoherence · befuddlement · addled · rambling · wandering · lucidity
senescence
Gradual functional decline with age
- decrepitudeWornness from age
- infirmityWeakness from illness or age
- frailtyWeakness of body
feebleness · deterioration · weakness · enfeeblement · waning · fading · decay · diminishment · debilitation · atrophy
fondness
Warm liking or affection
devoted · cherishing · sentimental · spoiling · fawning · overindulgent · tender · loving · soft-hearted · infatuated
experience
Practical knowledge from life
- sagacityPenetrating mental acuity
- reminiscenceRecalling past experiences
- hindsightRecognition after the fact
reflection · storytelling · memories · elder · patriarch · matriarch · venerable · seasoned · perspective · legacy
vulnerability
Openness to harm
- helplessnessLacking ability to cope
- dependenceState of needing another
- caregiverOne providing daily assistance
fragility · susceptibility · defenselessness · reliance · support · wheelchair · walker
- agingaging process, aging body, biological age, aging workforce, aging parents
- life stagesbaby, teenager, adult, childhood, adolescence
dotageyouth
State of being immature
childhood · infancy · adolescence · young adulthood · boyhood
dotagemental acuity
Sharpness of thought
lucidity · clear-headedness · astuteness · sagacity · mental sharpness
dotagevigor
Active physical strength
vitality · strength · robustness · prime · youthfulness