dotty
/ˈdɒti/
"dotty" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dotty” is uncommon English (frequency #52,903 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #52,903
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mildly insane or eccentric; often, senile.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dotty · dotty · English
dotty · rank #52,903 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #52,903
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH doofus
Nearest frequency peer: doofus (-1 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “dotty”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- doodling
doodling
47,100 corpus weight
- doofus
doofus
47,099 corpus weight
- dotty
dotty
47,098 corpus weight
- downbeat
downbeat
47,097 corpus weight
- downforce
downforce
47,096 corpus weight
- droit
droit
47,094 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “dotty” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dotty |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈdɒti/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #52,903 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dotty” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dotty is uncommon English at frequency #52,903 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈdɒti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for dotty in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: See dote, or compare totty (“unsteady, dizzy”). The correct English form is dotty, spelled D-O-T-T-Y.
Definition
- 1Mildly insane or eccentric; often, senile.
- 2Having an unsteady gait.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dotty appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
My nan has got dottier and dottier since passing the age of eighty.
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.
Etymology
See dote, or compare totty (“unsteady, dizzy”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dotty", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).