Dodderer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A frail elderly person who moves or speaks in a shaky, unsteady way, often because of age or weakness
2. Someone old and feeble whose walk is wobbly and whose mind or body seems to be failing with the years
3. An aged individual who totters along uncertainly, showing the physical and mental decline that comes with advancing years

Etymology: Dodder, the verb meaning to tremble or totter with age, is probably the older half of this word, and its own origin is obscure. The suffix "-er" is the more traceable part. It comes from Old English "-ere", which was used to form nouns for people or things that perform an action, and it reached English by a long route through Latin "-arius" and Old French "-ier". So a dodderer is, in the plainest terms, someone who dodders. Because the suffix is so common, the word itself is a simple formation rather than a coinage with a story behind it. Its meaning follows directly from the verb: a person whose movements have become unsteady and shaky, typically through old age.

Synonyms: codger, dotard, old fogey, geezer

Antonyms: youngster