Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dotterel

/ˈdɒtɹəl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.36 in modern English

Syllables: dot-ter-el
IPA: /ˈdɒtɹəl/

9

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A gullible fool, especially an elderly person with impaired faculties.

noun

A small brown-and-black bird of species Charadrius morinellus, of the plover family.

noun

Any of various small birds of Australasia thought to resemble the Eurasian dotterel.

Australian usage; New Zealand usage

adj

Example Sentences

"This poor dotterel, Sir Arthur, is playing fast and loose with me."
"some old dotterel trees"

Etymology

15th century. From dote (“to be foolish; senile”) + -rel (“pejorative suffix”). The bird is so named as it is easy to catch.

Word Breakdown

Suffix: dote

Usage

Inflected Forms

dotterels (plural) more dotterel (comparative) most dotterel (superlative)

Phrases

black-fronted dotterel Eurasian dotterel hooded dotterel inland dotterel red-kneed dotterel sea dotterel shore dotterel tawny-throated dotterel

Synonyms

Eurasian dotterel dotard dote dotrel charadrius morinellus eudromias morinellus

Questions

How do you pronounce dotterel?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈdɒtɹəl/.
What does dotterel mean?: A gullible fool, especially an elderly person with impaired faculties.
Where does dotterel come from?: 15th century. From dote (“to be foolish; senile”) + -rel (“pejorative suffix”). The bird is so named as it is easy to catch.

How to pronounce dotterel

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “dotterel”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈdɒtɹəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “dotterel”.
Repeat and practice — Say “dotterel” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.