mottled

adjective

mot·​tled ˈmä-tᵊld How to pronounce mottled (audio)
: 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

Examples of mottled in a Sentence

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In Margate, Turner experimented with materials like cloth, knives, and even bread to create the mottled topography of his paintings. Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 28 Mar. 2025 More than a century later, fine particles of pollution still clung to its feathers, dulling what once was a scarlet red breast to a mottled gray. Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2025 Others say excessive fluoride intake could cause dental fluorosis, a cosmetic disorder where the teeth become mottled. Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 21 Feb. 2025 Such warrior-poet anti-charisma feels out of place in a dopey movie that proves more interested in CGI monsters than its hero’s mottled humanity (Levi’s constant allusions to T.S. David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for mottled

Word History

First Known Use

1676, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of mottled was in 1676

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Cite this Entry

“Mottled.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mottled. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

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