mottled

[ mot-ld ]

adjective

1. spotted or blotched in coloring.

mottled

/ ˈmɒtəld /

adjective

1. coloured with streaks or blotches of different shades

Other Words From

• un·mottled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of mottled¹

First recorded in 1670–80; mottle + -ed ²

Example Sentences

In one of the tallest trees on Earth, a tan, mottled salamander ventures out on a fern growing high up on the trunk.

From Science News

Most females had drab colors — olive green heads and backs and mottled throats.

From Science News

Downpours transform the mottled landscape into lush emerald, while azaleas bloom and migrating cranes and storks begin the long journey back north.

From Time

The bending, roughly parallel lines produce a sense of motion, as does the mottled blue watercolor added to “Splash,” the only hand-finished print.

From Washington Post

The octopus’s skin flickers and momentarily resembles the grouper’s own mottled scales before reverting to blue.

From Nautilus

I stared at the poisonous mottled binding as I would at a snake.

From The Daily Beast

The rich, mottled tones with which he crafted his portraits are less about creating mood than about rendering pure physicality.

From The Daily Beast

To many of those white-haired and mottled men, the ambassador's six-minute apology and the invitation to visit Japan were insults.

From The Daily Beast

The skin on my face and arms took on a mottled, yellowish appearance, like an old newspaper left out in the sun.

From The Daily Beast

In one instant the mottled-faced gentleman depressed his hand again, and every glass was set down empty.

From Project Gutenberg

Saying this, the mottled-faced gentleman rose, as did the other gentlemen.

From Project Gutenberg

The cattle here are large and well-shaped, something like our own Lancashire breed, and mottled in colour, though mostly red.

From Project Gutenberg

His face was, moreover, mottled with dusky spots, so that he reminded the spectator of a frog or a toad.

From Project Gutenberg

Beneath them the cross-bedded sandstone appears, showing a mottled surface of pale-pinkish hue.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• marbled
• streaked