mottled
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of mottled
Explanation
Something that is mottled has spots or patches with different shades or colors, like the reddish blotches that can appear on your skin if it’s exposed to extreme temperatures. Experts believe the adjective mottled comes from the noun motley, which refers to something varied in appearance or nature, like a motley crew with its wild mix of people and styles. Mottled carries a similar sense, in that it refers to a surface appearance characterized by varied patches of color. If something is mottled, it has random spots or patches, like the mottled coat of a dapple gray horse.
Vocabulary lists containing mottled
Of Mice and Men
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"Of Mice and Men"
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The Dragonet Prophecy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mottled green daubs represent grass; lounging amoebic growths stand in for rocks, perhaps mountain peaks.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026
Mottled snails are best camouflaged in the solid snail region and stand out to predators and suffer greater predation when placed in their native region.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
Mottled with a spray of green-gray lichen, they nearly resembled a camouflage pattern.
From New York Times • Nov. 1, 2018
Mottled plum-coloured skies and speckled yellow dawns are built up using thin washes of paint.
From The Guardian • Apr. 1, 2011
We select as our type of this family the Mottled Rustic—a common moth that may be procured from June to August.
From Butterflies and Moths (British) by Furneaux, William S.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
