dotty

D2O1T1T1Y4
/ˈdɒti/Canada, US/ˈdɑ.ti/Canada, US[ˈdɑ.ɾi]

adjective

Mildly insane or eccentric; often, senile.

“Look at the dotty pattern on that cheetah's fur.”

UncommonScrabble 9

Meanings

dotty1

adjectivedotty (comparative dottier, superlative dottiest)

comparative dottier · superlative dottiest

  1. AustraliaUKcolloquialMildly insane or eccentric; often, senile.

    My nan has got dottier and dottier since passing the age of eighty.

    4 more examples

    Knockers in this part of the world seem intended for ornament only, — nobody seems to pay any attention to them when they’re used. The old lady upstairs must be either deaf or dotty.

    1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle

    "Good God! I don't want another accident here. I should go dotty if I had to face all that again."

    1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 152

    Mr. Fox stopped digging and stared at Badger as though he had gone completely dotty. "My dear old furry frump," he said, "do you know anyone in the whole world who wouldn't swipe a few chickens if their children were starving to death?"

    1970, Roald Dahl, Fantastic Mr. Fox, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, page 45

    JILL: Horses? ... You're really dotty, aren't you? ... What do you mean?

    1973, Peter Shaffer, “Act II, Scene 32”, in Equus, page 99
  2. UKdatedHaving an unsteady gait.

dotty2

adjectivedotty (comparative dottier, superlative dottiest)

comparative dottier · superlative dottiest

  1. Having many dots.

    Look at the dotty pattern on that cheetah's fur.

noundotty (plural dotties)

plural dotties

  1. Multicultural London EnglishA shotgun.

    I’m out here from the night till dawn The dotty’s out but I like it sawn

    2020, “Respawn”, Cillian (lyrics), chorus
    3 more examples

    Never bummy but I'm scummy fam, I used to burgle houses Then some OGs was consignin me them ounces Wet man round me had me feeling like I’m drownin Fam we really went there with a brownin Me and next man really went there with a dotty 05 murder squad nicked me for a [censored]

    2013, “Mad Years”, in Potter Payper (lyrics), Training Day, performed by Potter Payper

    They dont know what I’ve been through Red dot on his head like a hindu Scrams, Face just stack for the Wesson Ca’ be the gunplay that we’re into It’s like them man chill with the singer Two dot dots there in the dinger Yard man’s got a dotty in the rave But he’s still tryna do the La Linga We’ve had guns and shanks without awareness We’ve had guns and shanks we’re so fearless

    2017, “Mad About Bars”, TMula (lyrics), performed by 86 (TMula x Scrams)

    Bro I’m booky, I’ll take your food if my belly starts rumblin They rap about bootings, they ain’t blammed nobody Hold that properly when I bang that dotty I put sniff in a rex, and I slang that bobby

    2017, “Next Up?”, Digga D (lyrics), performed by 1011 (Digga D x Sav'O x T.Y)

Dotty3

proper noun
  1. uncommonA diminutive of the female given name Dorothy, also spelled Dottie.

    If you really believed and if you waited ever so quietly, you would see Dotty the witch pottering around in her kitchen or picking herbs to put in her potato stew.

    2013, D. Vanstone, Dotty and the Fix-it-Cats, →ISBN, page 7
    1 more example

    “It's Dotty!” As if there were only one Dotty in the world. “Dotty who?” a voice asked from behind the door. “Why, Dotty Fickett!” she replied. The door opened and a woman stood there, her face gaunt and filled with sadness. “Mrs. Doherty?”

    2015, Constance C. Greene, Dotty's Suitcase, Open Road Media, →ISBN

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveintensely enthusiastic about or preoccupied with

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

dotty · adjective

See dote, or compare totty (“unsteady, dizzy”).

Full word history & related roots →

dotty · adjective, noun

From dot + -y.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish höperö
  • höperömildly insane
Russian чудакова́тый
  • чудакова́тый (čudakovátyj)mildly insane

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with dotty

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

dotty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dotty

MLA

“dotty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dotty. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dotty,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dotty.

Source: dotty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.