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stippled

stippled

7.2
A surface covered with many small dots, often made by paint or ink
  • adjective
  • /ˈstɪpəld/
  • Specialized
translation icon : punteado
  • The wall was covered in a stippled pattern, giving the room a unique and artistic look.

Examples

  • She decorated the card with a stippled design of colorful dots that caught everyone's attention.

  • "Texture" can be built, for instance, from sequined, woolly, stippled, flannel, marbled, glittery, or drippy linguistic registers.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The artist created a beautiful landscape painting with a stippled texture that added depth and dimension.

Synonyms

speckled
vsstippled
1 2.8

Covered with many small spots of a different color

is about uniform dot application typically from an artistic technique
pointillist
vsstippled
  • Specialized
1 9.7

Made from many small dots of color that form a picture

is a dot pattern mainly as a drawing or painting technique
punctate
vsstippled
  • Specialized
1 8.9

Having many small dots or spots on skin and leaves

is an artistic dot texture rather than a scientific observation
bespeckled
vsstippled
1 7.1

Having small spots on the surface

is a deliberate textured dot pattern from drawing or painting
dotted
vsstippled
2.4

Having small dots on it

is specifically the textured dot pattern produced by art techniques
flecked
vsstippled
4.4

With small spots of a different color

is finer and made of many tiny deliberate dots not patches
specked
vsstippled
3.2

Covered with many small spots like drops of paint

focuses on deliberate tiny dots forming texture in artwork

Antonyms

256 1.0

A surface that is even and not rough

How Dotted

pointillist
  • Specialized
1 9.7
stippled
  • Specialized
7.2
speckled
1 2.8
dotted
2.4
plain
208 1.0

Surface Forms

stippled positive

Morphology

stippled = stipple (transparent) = stipple + ed

Formed directly from the verb 'stipple' with the regular past-participle/adjectival suffix '-ed', so the meaning 'marked with small dots' is directly predictable.

Etymology

Stippled comes from an old Dutch word stippelen that meant 'to make small marks or dots'. So a stippled surface is one covered in many tiny 'dots', like the effect an artist makes by softly tapping a brush, which is why we use it for skin patterns, pottery, or art.