blotch

American  

[bloch] / blɒtʃ /

noun

1. a large, irregular spot or blot.

   Synonyms:

   stain, blemish, mark, splotch

2. Plant Pathology.

   1. a diseased, discolored spot or area on a plant.

   2. a disease so characterized, usually accompanied by cankers and lesions.

3. a skin eruption; blemish.

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verb (used with object)

1. to mark with blotches; blot, spot, or blur.

   The floor of the forest was blotched with cool, dark moss.

adjective

1. Textiles. of or relating to blotch printing, or to the colored ground produced by this process.

blotch British  

/ blɒtʃ /

noun

1. an irregular spot or discoloration, esp a dark and relatively large one such as an ink stain

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verb

1. to become or cause to become marked by such discoloration

2. (intr) (of a pen or ink) to write or flow unevenly in blotches

blotch Scientific  

/ blŏch /

1. Any of several plant diseases caused by fungi and resulting in brown or black dead areas on leaves or fruit.

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Etymology

Origin of blotch

1595–1605; perhaps blend of blot ¹ + botch ²

Explanation

A blotch is an uneven spot or blemish, like the itchy blotches you get all over your arms after tangling with the poison ivy in your back yard. Etymologists guess that blotch comes from blot, "spot or stain," influenced by patch — so you can think of a blotch as a patchy stain. The word is frequently used to describe skin that's discolored, like the blotches you get on your cheeks after crying, or the painful blotch on your back where you forgot to apply sunblock. Use it as a verb, too: "The ketchup squirted from his hamburger and blotched his new white shirt."

Example Sentences

It would be an unavoidable blotch at the bottom of James’ 23-season resume that otherwise is highlighted by a 3-1 comeback against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 30, 2026

I also had a little red blotch of skin, but as I said, my thighs rub together, so maybe it was nothing?

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2024

At-home stain removal comes with many risks: setting that wine blotch forever, rubbing a hole in your favorite shirt, making dye bleed.

From Washington Post • May 17, 2022

Instead, the club has just painted the ones around them the same color, redacting the branding, leaving a blotch that is supposed to erase the past but acts only as a reminder.

From New York Times • Oct. 23, 2021

Griffin stopped cold, a pink blotch on his chest.

From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte

Related Words

• blemish
• blot