freckle
Americannoun
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one of the small, brownish spots on the skin that are caused by deposition of pigment and that increase in number and darken on exposure to sunlight; lentigo.
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any small spot or discoloration.
freckles of paint spattered on the floor.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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Technical name: lentigo. a small brownish spot on the skin: a localized deposit of the pigment melanin, developed by exposure to sunlight
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any small area of discoloration; a spot
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slang the anus
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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frecklesimple
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frecklessimple
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have freckledperfect
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has freckledperfect
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am frecklingprogressive
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are frecklingprogressive
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is frecklingprogressive
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have been frecklingperfect progressive
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has been frecklingperfect progressive
Past
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freckledsimple
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had freckledperfect
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was frecklingprogressive
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were frecklingprogressive
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had been frecklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of freckle
1350–1400; blend of obsolete frecken freckle ( Middle English frekne < Old Norse *frekna; compare freknōttr speckled, Norwegian, Icelandic frekna, Swedish fräkna freckle) and speckle (noun)
Explanation
A freckle is a small, brownish spot on the skin. You might have a few freckles on your nose, or a lot of freckles across your shoulders and arms. Most babies don't have any freckles, but people who are genetically predisposed to them and spend time in the sun tend to get freckles as children. People with pale skin, and sometimes red hair, have a tendency to get freckles and are more vulnerable to the sun's UV rays. If you have freckles, you should definitely use sunblock. When new freckles appear, you can say that you freckle.
Vocabulary lists containing freckle
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:
“The doctor was looking at each freckle with a magnifying glass,” she wrote.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2024
I can feel the backs of my knees burn and I can see my otherwise monochrome shoulders freckle if I’m outside for a bit too long.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 8, 2023
These Polynesian islands — a freckle, invisible on many maps — make up the world's fourth smallest nation, population around 12,000 and a land size of ten square miles.
From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2022
To those who encounter this magical bird, not only is a wish granted, but a golden freckle, like a sparkly skin blemish, is also deposited somewhere on their faces.
From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2022
He even has a freckle on his left eyelid.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
The biggest risk factors for melanoma turn out to be genetic: having red hair, pale skin, freckles or moles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
You want freckles and edges that lean just shy of too dark.
From Salon ● Feb. 24, 2026
By the 1920s, a few freckles and a well-placed tan line would probably mean you had moved up a social class or two, and suggested health, wealth and luxurious holidays.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2025
Marty Short would have 1,000 jokes about my legs: spam, freckles, pale.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2025
He had round glasses, and he was lean, sharp rather than soft, with heavy eyebrows and a handful of freckles.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
Its shell is painted to resemble SpongeBob’s freckled face.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2025
If you ask Cirone which is his favorite, he will tell you the Gold Rush, a golden-green apple with a freckled skin, crisp crunch and rich, tart flavor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2023
A fuzzy, freckled gull chick emerged from a bayberry bush, stared curiously at me as if it had spotted a Martian, and then waddled back to its hiding place.
From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2023
But the glow of the freckled, big-eyed actor who so memorably played Marion Ravenwood has only grown stronger over time.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2023
The first, Poppy Lopez, crossed her tan, freckled arms.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
The animal’s body remained astoundingly intact through the eons, retaining even shreds of delicate, scale-studded skin and a freckling of pigment.
From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2021
Jupiter’s great red spot is visible at the 10 o’clock position; a freckling of white ovals—most distinct at eight and nine o’clock—likely indicate deep atmospheric storms.
From Time ● Oct. 25, 2017
It is a freckling of snow on cobbled pavements and the golden light from a window on a dark evening that glows like a Russian icon on a museum wall.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 8, 2017
Holocaust Memorial Museum stretched halfway down the block Wednesday, raindrops freckling the sidewalk, as Barbara Conroy and her teenage granddaughter, Molly Giguiere, inched toward the doors.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 12, 2017
For once I was glad of the privacy of the deep sunbonnet that Mother made me wear to prevent freckling.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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.
