: 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
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The babies, usually two or three to a family, start as small, fluffy creatures with dark, mottled spots on their heads and webbed feet much too big for their bodies.
—Monica Deeks, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Aug. 2025
His upper lip was swollen and bruised a mottled pinkish blue, and the skin on his face was rubbed raw.
—Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
These feisty birds, which can run up to 15-20 mph, are recognizable by their mottled feathers, long tails, long legs and short head crest — which is more brownish than the bright blue in the cartoon.
—Shelby Slade, AZCentral.com, 24 July 2025
The outcome is a pleasingly mottled appearance that earns comparisons to denim, which is similarly woven with a colored warp and a white weft but is milled as a more dense and substantial twill.
—Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 7 July 2025
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Monica Deeks, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Aug. 2025
His upper lip was swollen and bruised a mottled pinkish blue, and the skin on his face was rubbed raw.
—Burkhard Bilger, New Yorker, 28 July 2025
These feisty birds, which can run up to 15-20 mph, are recognizable by their mottled feathers, long tails, long legs and short head crest — which is more brownish than the bright blue in the cartoon.
—Shelby Slade, AZCentral.com, 24 July 2025
The outcome is a pleasingly mottled appearance that earns comparisons to denim, which is similarly woven with a colored warp and a white weft but is milled as a more dense and substantial twill.
—Eric Twardzik, Robb Report, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for mottled
Cite this Entry
“Mottled.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mottled. Accessed 26 Aug. 2025.
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