dapple
Americannoun
-
a spot or mottled marking, usually occurring in clusters.
-
an animal with a mottled skin or coat.
adjective
verb (used with or without object)
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dapples,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dappled,
past participle, past
-
dappling
present participle
verb
noun
-
mottled or spotted markings
-
a dappled horse, etc
adjective
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dapplesimple
-
dapplessimple
-
have dappledperfect
-
has dappledperfect
-
am dapplingprogressive
-
are dapplingprogressive
-
is dapplingprogressive
-
have been dapplingperfect progressive
-
has been dapplingperfect progressive
Past
-
dappledsimple
-
had dappledperfect
-
was dapplingprogressive
-
were dapplingprogressive
-
had been dapplingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dapple
First recorded in 1545–55; probably back formation from dappled
Explanation
To dapple is to dot with blotches of color or light, the way sunlight dapples the leaves of trees in the summertime. You can use dapple as a verb or a noun: "I saw a dapple of yellow paint on the floor after I finished painting my bedroom wall." Writers often describe the way sunshine and moonlight dapple things, forming irregular spots and patches. Sometimes animal fur or skin is described as dappled, or a color such as dapple-gray, an adjective which—strangely enough—was originally apple-gray.
Vocabulary lists containing dapple
Much Ado About Nothing
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The Cuckoo's Calling
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Into the Wild
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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.
See Examples For:
So when the rain comes, it doesn't just dapple us with light sprinkles, it drops the heavier load of moisture that has been accumulating for a longer time.
From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2023
Gleaming spots caused by methane ice clouds in the planet's atmosphere dapple its lower half.
From Scientific American ● Dec. 20, 2022
By contrast, Domon Ken’s “Mr. and Mrs. Kotani: Survivors of the Atomic Bomb” from 1957 depicts parents and a chubby baby, smiling widely despite the scars that dapple Mr. Kotani’s face.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2019
Horse-drawn carriages click-clack around the lush public squares that dapple the map.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 31, 2018
Ser Barristan was at her right, mounted on a dapple grey.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
The subtlest animation looks the best, especially when sunlight dapples upon fur or felines flex their claws to assert power.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2024
More open compositions such as “Inlet” neatly mirror sky and water, but Dellario seems most at home under tree cover, where light dapples rather than glares.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2022
Her voice shines like dapples of pale moonlight, and is especially arresting in moments of ambling melancholy.
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2021
The way the sun dapples on the buildings near her Garment District office is something to see, she said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2012
The sun shone down through the rustling of ferns and stunted cypress of the island in dapples of light and shadow.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
Over the past two years, Johnson has become a minority owner of multiple horses, including Sandman, a $1.2 million, dappled gray thoroughbred who competed in last year’s Derby.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
In a woodland glade, in dappled sunshine, Sharron and Glen Markey are arm-in-arm beside the tree they planted in memory of their beloved 17-year-old daughter, Helena, their only child.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
If a political debate is your idea of a good time — rather than, say, sitting on the sugary sands of some beach watching a dappled sunset play on the water, more power to you!
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2024
It’s an ideal companion piece to the site-specific daybed Skelly made to best enjoy the view from the sunroom’s expansive windows, where dappled light filters through an outdoor screen of towering bamboo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
She was dressed in a yellow jacket that had dappled fur on the edges, and her hair was pulled back tightly with shiny ribbons.
From "Chasing Vermeer" by Blue Balliett
When you assemble the dessert into bowls and start dappling each island with caramel and toasted sliced almonds, your friends will begin to hover.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
I stepped through the door, surveying the late-summer light dappling the antique wood floors.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2024
In the afternoon light, the windows sparkle — dappling the temple sanctuary with reflected light, but also creating a confetti pattern inside the pavilion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2022
As the late afternoon sunshine casts down through the trees, dappling the Cotswold stone, Sir John Graham comes out to greet me.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2015
Close by, just under the dappling shadow of the dark bay-trees, two men remained on guard.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
