1
as in fleck
a small area that is different (as in color) from the main part
a lizard with specks of white against a green body
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in glimmer
a very small amount
not a speck of explanation to accompany the book's pictures
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in particle
a very small piece
a speck of dust was preventing the laser from reading the disc
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to sprinkle
to mark with small spots especially unevenly
dirt that had specked the windows of the factory for ages
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of speck
Julian Dossett, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2025
The floor was covered in paint specks, in the corner was a pile of old paint tubes and smocks.
—Karl Ove Knausgaard, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
Brian Lowry, CNN, 19 Apr. 2018
To get into the spirit, order a ginger beer and rock shrimp fritters, fried balls of doughy goodness specked with bell pepper and spices that come steaming hot with a side of spicy mayo.
—Mark Kurlyandchik, Detroit Free Press, 12 Feb. 2018
See all Example Sentences for speck 
Noun
That distinction goes to a shot captured by NASA's Voyager 1 probe in 1990, which shows our home planet as a distant, colorful speck in a vast, mostly empty cosmos.
—Julian Dossett, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2025
The floor was covered in paint specks, in the corner was a pile of old paint tubes and smocks.
—Karl Ove Knausgaard, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025
Verb
For all its strengths, though, the series proves a bit of a slog, at times, as the wheels turn along the dusty, blood-specked road to wherever this maze leads.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 19 Apr. 2018
To get into the spirit, order a ginger beer and rock shrimp fritters, fried balls of doughy goodness specked with bell pepper and spices that come steaming hot with a side of spicy mayo.
—Mark Kurlyandchik, Detroit Free Press, 12 Feb. 2018
See all Example Sentences for speck
Recent Examples of Synonyms for speck
Noun
-
The song structures melt into goo; the lyrics pelt flecks of raw feeling.—
Pitchfork,
Pitchfork,
3 Dec. 2024
-
Each light is attached to a green string to easily blend into your tree, and once the lights are turned on, the liquid inside each bulb bubbles to reveal floating flecks of gold glitter to make your tree shine.—
Kaitlin Gates,
Southern Living,
30 Oct. 2024
Noun
-
There’s one hopeful glimmer on the horizon: slim phones.—
Allison Johnson,
The Verge,
21 Jan. 2025
-
Now, after years in which the situation in Syria seemed to have become stagnant, the fall of the regime, for Syrians displaced in Turkey, offered a glimmer of hope amid a precarious existence marked by everyday humiliation and occasional violence in the country of their refuge.—
Alia Malek,
New York Times,
17 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The particles can pass through any kind of matter and contain information about some of the most energetic events in the universe, such as gamma-ray bursts.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN,
15 Feb. 2025
-
In effect, the particles accelerate by surfing on these waves.—
The Physics arXiv Blog,
Discover Magazine,
14 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
The concept of Section 31 was sprinkled into the later seasons.—
Angelica Jade Bastién,
Vulture,
7 Feb. 2025
-
Brush with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar, if desired.—
Kay Johnson,
Twin Cities,
6 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Coronal holes may superficially appear to be similar to sunspots, as both appear as dark blotches on our star.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
14 Feb. 2025
-
Both have gray-brown bodies with a smattering of lighter cream and darker brown blotches.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
Trump is a reverse Trojan Horse: a shred of reason inside a thick armor of malignancy.—
John Yoo and John Shu,
Newsweek,
23 Jan. 2025
-
Every one of his releases is part of a master plan: to develop tools that lay waste to every last hoary shred of club convention.—
Pitchfork,
Pitchfork,
5 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
And that gives him and his agent Ben Hankinson a fair bit of leverage in contract talks.—
Harman Dayal,
The Athletic,
18 Feb. 2025
-
Rather than spending years of R&D perpetually reinventing themselves, its creators take what’s worked in their own games, incorporate the best bits of others, and remix the brew over and over.—
Isaiah Colbert,
Rolling Stone,
18 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Inside the cafe area, farmhouse tables are flanked by an open kitchen dotted with cookbooks and produce.—
USA TODAY,
USA TODAY,
13 Feb. 2025
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Their minarets dot the skyline and the five daily calls to prayer are part of the city’s soundscape.—
Terri Colby,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near speck
Cite this Entry
“Speck.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speck. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
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