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Glite Dictionary
🟤 To spot with color 🟤 A color pattern
to mottle

to mottle

3 8.0
To make something have uneven spots or patches of color
  • verb
  • /ˈmɒtəl/
translation icon : moteado
  • The artist chose to mottle the canvas with a blend of vivid colors to create depth in her painting.

Examples

  • The double doors had glass insets, but the glass was mottled so as not to be transparent.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Her skin was mottled red here and there and lightly bristled with hair.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Around a corner, I came across a small church, its surfaces damp and mottled with age.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Blood surged to the attorney's face, mottling it with a dirty red.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • The general's gold-ivory skin was mottled by bruises along the right side of his face.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The rolling ridges looked soft in the distance, the surfaces mottled with drifted snow.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The first bird was mottled gray and brown with beady eyes like drops of melted chocolate.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • All were mottled ankle to hip with blue and green bruises from the racquets.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Its orange colouring is more uniform, too, while the Large Skipper has mottled orange patterns on its underside.

    The Duke of Burgundy (2014)

  • He'd been a dyer's apprentice before he was caught stealing, and his arms were mottled green to the elbow.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

to spot
vsto mottle
46 2.2

To make a small mark or stain on something

is more about mixed sizes and shades, not only distinct single marks
to streak
vsto mottle
22 2.8

To mark something with long thin lines of a different color

focuses on spots and blotches rather than only long thin lines
to speckle
vsto mottle
15 3.9

To cover something with many small spots of a different color

allows both many tiny spots and larger blotches or streaks together
to fleck
vsto mottle
10 6.0

To mark a surface with small spots of color or light

creates a wider mix of mark sizes, not only very small spots
to dapple
vsto mottle
5 7.2

To make small spots of a different color on something

is broader, including both those patches and smaller spots or streaks
to blotch
vsto mottle
2 5.3

To mark something with irregular spots of a different color

marks surfaces with varied spots, blotches, and streaks rather than only large stains
to splotch
vsto mottle
2 6.7

To put uneven marks of color or liquid on a surface

uses a mix of patch sizes and sometimes thin lines rather than only messy patches
to blot
vsto mottle
2 3.7

To make a mark or stain on a surface, often with liquid

involves many varied marks and streaks, not just single stains
to speck
vsto mottle
1 5.6

To mark something with small spots

is broader, combining those tiny dots with larger irregular marks
to harlequin
vsto mottle
  • Archaic
9.9

To cover something with patches of different colors

is less patterned, creating uneven spots and streaks rather than a regular design
to smatter color
vsto mottle
  • US
9.1

To put small spots of color over a surface like a shirt or wall

specifies a variety of marks, including spots, blotches, and thin streaks
to bespeckle
vsto mottle
9.6

To mark something with small spots

can include those tiny dots but also larger spots and streaks

How Spotted

to blotch
2 5.3
to mottle
3 8.0
to speckle
15 3.9
to fleck
10 6.0
to spot
46 2.2

Surface Forms

mottle infinitive
mottled past
mottled past participle
mottling present participle
mottles third person singular

Etymology

The verb mottle comes from the same old mot (think of motley for many colours), which meant 'speck'. So to mottle something is to mark it with many small spots or patches of different 'color'.