dappled

[dap-uhld]

adjective

1. having spots of a different shade, tone, or color from the background; mottled.

Other Word Forms

• undappled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dappled¹

1350–1400; Middle English, probably < Scandinavian; akin to Old Norse depill spot

Example Sentences

The Dalmatian fern, with its dappled fronds and alert bearing.

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Filming in woods near Nara, and then in the Komyoji forest in Kyoto prefecture, Miyagawa created a latticework of sunlight with tree branches and leaves forming a living carpet of dappled shadows.

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Picnic in our backpacks, my husband and I hiked in from the Palomarin Headlands — about 2.5 miles — along cliffs where you can spot gray and humpback whales, and shaded paths where dappled shadows dance.

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“Six Feet Under” is dappled with Lynchian homages – easy enough to explain in a show about a family that dwells in the figurative crawlspace between life and death, whose business is guiding families through loss.

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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!

Read more on Los Angeles Times