pied
Americanadjective
-
having patches of two or more colors, as various birds and other animals.
a pied horse.
-
wearing pied clothing.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of pied
1350–1400; Middle English; pie 2 (with reference to the black and white plumage of the magpie) + -ed 3
Explanation
Pied means colorfully jumbled. If you're looking at kittens, you may see solid black ones, solid white, or ones with lots of different patches of color. You'd call a patchy one pied. Pied was first used to refer to magpies’ black and white plumage. Later, pied came to refer to an order of friars known for their black and white robes, and even later, pied came to refer to a jumble of typefaces in a printed document. Now, pied can indicate anything having two or more colors. Someone with multicolored articles of clothing can be said to be pied, as in the Pied Piper of Hamlin.
Vocabulary lists containing pied
The Merchant of Venice
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On the Origin of Species
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Linked
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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.
Meanwhile, the southern pied babbler does not, in fact, merely babble.
From Salon ● May 29, 2025
And when she got pied in the face at a press conference in Iowa—her instant response: “At least it’s a fruit pie”—a whole bunch of Americans reveled in her comeuppance.
From Slate ● Jan. 11, 2025
I walked down the street like the pied piper, it was awesome.
From BBC ● Jan. 8, 2025
“I took on this odd role of being the pied piper of bocce,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2024
The yellow daffadowndillies have burst into bloom, and the tiny cupped flowers of crocuses are spreading their pied blankets of white and purple.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
