exhibiting great diversity of elements.
a motley crowd.
being of different colors combined.
a motley flower border.
wearing a parti-colored garment.
a motley fool.
a combination of different colors.
a parti-colored effect.
the parti-colored garment of a jester.
a heterogeneous assemblage.
a medley.
made up of elements of varying type, quality, etc
multicoloured
a motley collection or mixture
the particoloured attire of a jester
obsolete a jester
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English motele, motlay, mottelay “mixture of colors, variegated; a parti-colored garment”; of uncertain origin; perhaps akin to mote 1. See -ly ( def. )
If you've encountered the word motley, it's most likely in the phrase "motley crew," which means a diverse and poorly organized group. Think of a band of pirates, or the assorted characters who became The Fellowship of the Ring. In contemporary usage, motley can be used in virtually any context as a synonym for mismatched, heterogeneous, or ragtag. But the word was first used to describe multicolored fabric, especially the type of material used in a jester's costume. This distinctive apparel was a sign of the fool's place outside the class system — and, in the Elizabethan era, it signified that the jester was beyond the sumptuary laws that determined who could wear what. Thus, the fool had the exceptional ability to speak freely, even to royalty.
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“Biotech will be a comparative outperformer,” says Motley Fool biotech analyst Karl Thiel.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 3, 2025
Motley Rice has argued there is no advantage from overlapping claims or access to confidential governmental information.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025
His older brother introduced him to the bands that would become his musical awakening: Def Leppard, Motley Crüe, Poison, Warrant, and Guns N’ Roses.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2025
Think of the judges who turned their back on Constance Baker Motley, or who wouldn’t say her name—those were the other judges in those districts.
From Slate • Jan. 6, 2025
Motley collections of stray animals have always populated racetracks, and being the social creatures they are, horses usually befriend them.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
