: marked with spots of different colors : having blotches of two or more colors
mottled tree bark
a mottled complexion
the bird's mottled plumage
A combination of red and blue pigments in the shell of a live lobster creates a mottled camouflage of indeterminate hue that blends in with the ocean floor.—
Kenneth Chang
Kenneth ChangExamples of mottled in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The food arrived on a mottled brown ceramic plate, its inexact edges forming something between a circle and an octagon.
—Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2026
Then, without warning, colors start rippling across its skin — flashes of deep crimson, bursts of mottled brown, rapid shifts in texture — while its eyes dart and its limbs twitch.
—Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2026
But then how is Stu, with mottled skin, calling up Sidney and conducting threatening live video-phone chats with her?
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 26 Feb. 2026
The surface appears slightly mottled or burnished, giving it the feel of something that’s been hand-made and used for years.
—Lauren Bengtson, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for mottled
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Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2026
Then, without warning, colors start rippling across its skin — flashes of deep crimson, bursts of mottled brown, rapid shifts in texture — while its eyes dart and its limbs twitch.
—Samantha Agate, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2026
But then how is Stu, with mottled skin, calling up Sidney and conducting threatening live video-phone chats with her?
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 26 Feb. 2026
The surface appears slightly mottled or burnished, giving it the feel of something that’s been hand-made and used for years.
—Lauren Bengtson, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for mottled
Cite this Entry
“Mottled.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mottled. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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