speck
Americannoun
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specks
plural
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a small spot differing in color or substance from that of the surface or material upon which it appears or lies.
Specks of soot on the window sill.
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a very little bit or particle.
We haven't a speck of sugar.
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something appearing small by comparison or by reason of distance.
By then the town was just a speck.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a very small mark or spot
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a small or tiny piece of something
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of speck
before 900; Middle English specke, Old English specca; cognate with Dutch spikkel
Explanation
A speck is a tiny patch or spot. At night, the stars look like glittering specks against the sky. And when you look up at the night sky, you might feel like a mere speck in the universe. A speck is a bit of color or light, or a very slight amount of something: "I'd like my eggs with lots of salt and just a speck of pepper." If you're extremely tidy, discovering specks of sand on your jeans after a walk on the beach might prompt you to change your clothes. Speck can be traced back to the Old English specca, "small spot or stain," but beyond that its origin remains a mystery.
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:
Staring up at the 90-foot-diameter oculus four stories above the entrance plaza makes one feel like a speck in the galaxy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026
A new image captured on June 13, 2026, shows the rover as a tiny green speck against the Martian landscape, just one day before it officially reached the distance milestone.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
TONOPAH, Nev. — Some years ago, Harry Chahal and his wife were on a trip to Las Vegas when, like countless motorists before and since, they passed through this high desert speck of a town.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2026
A slight misalignment, or even a speck of oil from the technician’s hands, and the strands won’t join.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026
Not a speck of dust could be detected by the naked eye.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Jones said Dolgellau "has a history of gold mining" and very small specks of gold could be found among "a lot of gravel".
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
A bottle of Ice Age glacial water from the Czech mountains contains dazzling specks of 24‑carat gold.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
Abandoning Ukrainians over the specks of sawdust in their eyes would be hypocritical and counter to our interests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025
We were just specks in the ocean, as tiny as a velella or an anchovy, part of a big, watery world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025
Bits of her Kleenex fell to the floor, and she picked off the specks from the carpet.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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.
