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:
As time passes, the speckle shifts, which allows different parts of the cells to become visible.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 10, 2024
Cobblestone streets and mom-and-pop stores speckle the downtown of this city of 18,000 that is caked in red clay soil and nestled among rolling hills.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2024
Photographs of children and grandchildren speckle the walls.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 29, 2022
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
Kamau looked up, and Ekon followed his brother’s gaze to take in the silver-white stars beginning to speckle the sky overhead.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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
Those tell-tale black, dusty speckles first colonised the windowsill, and then took over parts of the wallpaper and nearby furniture.
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2024
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
Peering through the window, I could see three chickens I didn’t know in the shed, brown with white-and-black speckles, and then I held my breath.
From "Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer" by Kelly Jones
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
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
Besson’s “Dracula” is over the top, highly stylized and speckled with outrageous creatures, visual effects and a plot that somehow connects Count Dracula to the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026
The rocks below the bats were slubbered with wet, greasy guano, a spinach- green paste speckled with gray blobs, which reminded me of oysters Rockefeller.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
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
Tiny spots of bright, white light speckling a jet black field suggest a placid night sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
The cover art of this digital-only release shows Gustavo Dudamel fixing us in a pensive gaze, gray speckling those formerly exuberant curls and an index finger propping up his forehead.
From New York Times ● Aug. 24, 2022
Soon after European astronomers developed the first telescopes at the start of the 17th century, they observed dark spots speckling the Sun’s surface.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 9, 2022
The white petals spun down around them, covering the grass and speckling their fur, while thirty feet above a thrush sang, “Cherry dew, cherry dew. Knee deep, knee deep, knee deep.”
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
