speckle
Americannoun
-
a small speck, spot, or mark, as on skin.
-
speckled coloring or marking.
verb (used with object)
-
speckles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
speckled,
past participle, past
-
speckling
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
specklesimple
-
specklessimple
-
have speckledperfect
-
has speckledperfect
-
am specklingprogressive
-
are specklingprogressive
-
is specklingprogressive
-
have been specklingperfect progressive
-
has been specklingperfect progressive
Past
-
speckledsimple
-
had speckledperfect
-
was specklingprogressive
-
were specklingprogressive
-
had been specklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of speckle
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at speck, -le
Explanation
A speckle is a dot or dash of something — you might think you've painted the living room without spilling any paint, only to find a speckle of purple in the middle of the rug. Young children pouring their own cereal often leave a speckle of milk on the counter no matter how careful they are. You can also use speckle as a verb meaning "to scatter" or "to dot." For example, you could describe the black spots that speckle your cat, or talk about the stars that speckle the sky. Speckle most likely comes from the Old English word specca, "small spot or speck."
Vocabulary lists containing speckle
Unit 1: Telling Details
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Brown Girl Dreaming
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Bridge to Terabithia
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Reflected, back-scattered photons return from the target object carrying speckle noise, a random type of flaw that occurs in imagery.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 16, 2024
But instead of seeking to speckle them with familiar, Earthly worlds, we can give in to the alienation and embrace the loneliness, let it transmute into a new kind of awe.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2022
As cancellations increasingly speckle a busy fall concert calendar, the team behind Day In Day Out, Seattle’s first major music festival since the pandemic, was dealt a last-minute blow.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 2, 2021
Hundreds of firefighters raced across miles and miles of forest land, often outnumbering the populations of the small towns that speckle southern Oregon.
From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2021
The sky above them was stormy, and as they sailed closer, rain began to speckle the surface of the sea.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
This organization gives rise to unique pH profiles within nucleoli, which they measured and compared with the pH of nearby non-nucleolar condensates including nuclear speckles and Cajal bodies.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 18, 2024
People in the stands held their phones up, creating a sea of star-like speckles in the crowd.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2023
They lose their brightness in the oven, leaving drab streaks instead of bright rainbow speckles.
From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2023
Others showed mere speckles of damage visible among streaks of healthy, red-stained cells.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 27, 2023
They’re made of wide, rough boards with cracks in between, gray with plaster dust and scattered with white speckles, like bird droppings.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Prized vinyl records and vintage audio equipment are nothing more than a blank mush, speckled with ashes and broken pieces.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
Trout, their speckled flanks gleaming in the sun, gulped them down one by one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
For decades, L.A.’s hazy blue days and golden pink dusks have given way to nights speckled with golden orange, where amber streetlights twinkle across hills, valleys and coastal plain like stars in the sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2026
You wait until the bananas are nearly gone — soft, speckled, with that distinct on-the-edge-of-death banana smell — and turn them into something new.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026
I jab a spoon in my cereal, which has absorbed so much milk that the pieces look like bloated life jackets bobbing in a speckled ocean.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
Growing U.S. output, coupled with a surge in imports from Canada and elsewhere, eventually dimmed Venezuela’s role as a supplier to refiners speckling the Gulf Coast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
The “white gold” they seek is contained in the hundreds of salt flats, or salares, speckling the region.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2024
Tiny spots of bright, white light speckling a jet black field suggest a placid night sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
Or what if getting the match doesn’t rely solely on eyesight — does a certain kind of speckling feel different to the animal than, say, stripes?
From New York Times ● Jun. 28, 2023
Maybe that's where there is money falling from the sky, diamonds speckling the sidewalks.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
