dotterel
/ˈdɒtɹəl/
"dotterel" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dotterel” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A gullible fool, especially an elderly person with impaired faculties.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dotterel · dotterel · English
dotterel · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dotterel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɒtɹəl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dotterel” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dotterel is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdɒtɹəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
dotterel doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: 15th century. From dote (“to be foolish; senile”) + -rel (“pejorative suffix”). The bird is so named as it is easy to catch. The correct English form is dotterel, spelled D-O-T-T-E-R-E-L.
Definition
- 1A gullible fool, especially an elderly person with impaired faculties.
- 2A small brown-and-black bird of species Charadrius morinellus, of the plover family.
- 3Any of various small birds of Australasia thought to resemble the Eurasian dotterel.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how dotterel appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This poor dotterel, Sir Arthur, is playing fast and loose with me.
Etymology
15th century. From dote (“to be foolish; senile”) + -rel (“pejorative suffix”). The bird is so named as it is easy to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.