mottled
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mottled
Explanation
Something that is mottled has spots or patches with different shades or colors, like the reddish blotches that can appear on your skin if it’s exposed to extreme temperatures. Experts believe the adjective mottled comes from the noun motley, which refers to something varied in appearance or nature, like a motley crew with its wild mix of people and styles. Mottled carries a similar sense, in that it refers to a surface appearance characterized by varied patches of color. If something is mottled, it has random spots or patches, like the mottled coat of a dapple gray horse.
Vocabulary lists containing mottled
Of Mice and Men
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"Of Mice and Men"
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The Dragonet Prophecy
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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.
Soon enough, trees everywhere were showing blotchy, mottled, yellowed leaves and suffering from twig dieback and sparse foliage.
From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026
Bartram's bass display a light golden color with dark brown blotches along their sides, a mottled belly, and fins with a rosy tint.
From Science Daily • Mar. 23, 2026
Skaters say the structure—brutalist water-pumping limbs of mottled white concrete that rise out of the ground near the waterfront—is an icon.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026
The effect is dark and mottled — it looks as if the concrete has swallowed the color.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 1, 2025
The shadows of the willow leaves made her skin look mottled and dark, the way the iron deposits streaked the yellow sandstone cliffs dark orange.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
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.
