mottled

adjective

mot·​tled ˈmä-tᵊld 

: marked with spots of different colors : having blotches of two or more colors

mottled tree bark

a mottled complexion

the bird's mottled plumage

A combination of red and blue pigments in the shell of a live lobster creates a mottled camouflage of indeterminate hue that blends in with the ocean floor.

—Kenneth Chang

Examples of mottled in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Designated the state bird of Alaska in 1955, this rotund creature takes on a drastically different appearance depending on the season, with snow-white plumage in the winter and mottled brown feathers during the warmer seasons. —Jared Ranahan, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2025

Quiet time to wonder, daydream and relish the mottled bark of sycamore trees has fallen by the wayside. —Patricia Steckler, Baltimore Sun, 18 June 2025

What looks like something tangled, speckled or mottled, clearly out of place amid a cluster of broken rushes, cattails, algae, has captured her excited attention. —Lizz Schumer, People.com, 17 June 2025

Roman Clay is an ultralow-VOC paste made from a gypsum plaster base that dries with a mottled finish and a stone-like texture. —Lauren Bengtson, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1676, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing mottled

• mottled enamel

Rhymes for mottled

• bottled
• throttled