checkered

adjective

check·ered | \ˈche-kərd

\

Definition of checkered

: marked by alternation or contrast of fortune the best album of his checkered career— Mark Coleman especially : marked by many problems or failures trying to prevent discovery of his checkered past

Examples of checkered in a Sentence

He has had a checkered career with many ups and downs.

Recent Examples on the Web

Despite his weak record of late and his checkered off-the-field reputation, Harvey might still draw interest from other teams if he is released. — James Wagner, New York Times, "Mets and Matt Harvey Part Ways," 4 May 2018 Bring this checkered towel from MacKenzie-Childs as a host or hostess gift. — The Editors, The Cut, "41 Things on Sale You’ll Actually Want to Buy: From Miu Miu to Missoni," 13 July 2018 Party guests gathered in a shady area of the club where the long tables were decorated with red-and-white checkered tablecloths adorned with sunflower and daisy flower arrangements held in mason jars — just perfect for a Western-style barbecue. — Jane Napier Neely, latimes.com, "The Valley Line: Club wrangles members into the Saddle & Sirloin Club for annual summer party," 9 July 2018 The new assistant coach arrives with a checkered past that already included issues at Western Kentucky. — Jeff Greer, The Courier-Journal, "Western Kentucky, Rick Stansbury invite skepticism with new hire," 5 July 2018 Served on red-checkered tablecloths, some pies had long strips of cooked squash baked into them. — Mike Sula, Chicago Reader, "Andersonville’s Passerotto is a tale of two peninsulas," 21 June 2018 However, both family centers have had checkered histories. — Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, San Antonio Express-News, "Some immigrant families have long been allowed to stay together," 20 June 2018 The problem is that Jedao doesn’t remember his wartime experience, and the soldiers under his command despise him for his prior, checkered history. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "The 13 enthralling science fiction and fantasy books you need to check out this June," 1 June 2018 But the rapper’s brief rise was also checkered with controversy. — NBC News, "Police make second arrest in rapper XXXTentacion's murder," 11 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'checkered.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.