inkblot

noun

ink·​blot ˈiŋk-ˌblät 

variants or ink blot or ink-blot

1

: a blot of ink

2

: any of several cards showing blots of ink for use in psychological testing

also : inkblot test

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The measure isn’t unlike the pain scale that doctors use to ask how patients feel, or the Rorschach inkblot that psychologists use to prompt subconscious feelings from their clients. —Gabriela Riccardi, Quartz, 27 Dec. 2022

Artist David Thomas Smith created this image by making a mosaic of satellite images of China’s Three Gorges Dam and surroundings, creating a kind of remote-sensing inkblot. —Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 11 Feb. 2013

Bored joggers are looking at oil stains on cement like inkblot tests to keep their minds busy. —Kevin Armstrong, WSJ, 5 Mar. 2021

Now another inkblot of feathers rose off the September sheet water, swirled for a moment as if gathering its wits, and streamed straight for the decoys. —T. Edward Nickens, Field & Stream, 24 Sep. 2020

Critically, the brain remains intact after a primary blast injury, and the only potential sign of trauma is a faint inkblot of blood that may be spread across its surface. —Rachel Lance, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Mar. 2020

At a crossroads a gray—like a spreading inkblot—body. —Joanne Turnbull, Harper's Magazine, 23 June 2020

For example, those are not, in fact, inkblot tests on the new menus. —Nick Rallo, Dallas News, 11 June 2020

For now, there’s little more than inkblots to interpret. —BostonGlobe.com, 25 Sep. 2019

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Word History

First Known Use

1703, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing inkblot

• Rorschach inkblot test
• inkblot test

• Rorschach inkblot test
• inkblot test

Medical Definition

inkblot

noun

ink·​blot ˈiŋk-ˌblät 

: any of several plates showing blots of ink for use in psychological testing