as in flecks
a small area that is different (as in color) from the main part
there was just a dot on the tablecloth where the food had spattered
Synonyms & Similar Words
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as in sprinkles
to mark with small spots especially unevenly
the practice of some chefs of positioning a small portion of food in the center and dotting the rest of the plate with sauce
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dots
Jacqueline Howard, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2025
While the specs on this unit list knots as pre-bleached—the tiny dots attaching each strand to the lace, designed to mimic a natural scalp—they’re actually still pretty dark and visible.
—Noel Cymone Walker, StyleCaster, 25 Sep. 2025
The black dots in vanilla bean ice cream are indeed vanilla bean seeds, experts confirm, but their presence does little more than offer visual allure and subtle texture.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2025
The yellowing, eventually turning to brown, starts with stippling or tiny dots on the foliage where mites have pierced the leaves’ epidermis with their stylets or sucking mouthparts.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 20 Sep. 2025
The sensor handles up to 70Gs of acceleration and has a sensitivity of up to 30,000 dots per inch (DPI).
—PC Magazine, 18 Sep. 2025
Instead of just surfacing alerts or indicators, these agents aim to conduct investigations, connect dots across data sources and recommend decisive action.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Mixing prints takes the trend to an even more playful approach, so have fun combining plaids with stripes and dots with florals.
—Gabrielle Porcaro, Travel + Leisure, 17 Sep. 2025
This new research, however, could apply some superglue to our broken theories by suggesting a new identity for little red dots and an entirely new class of cosmic object.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Tori Latham, Robb Report, 22 Sep. 2025
Noun
Those dots can defocus peripheral light, which may help slow the progression of myopia in children.
—Jacqueline Howard, CNN Money, 26 Sep. 2025
While the specs on this unit list knots as pre-bleached—the tiny dots attaching each strand to the lace, designed to mimic a natural scalp—they’re actually still pretty dark and visible.
—Noel Cymone Walker, StyleCaster, 25 Sep. 2025
The black dots in vanilla bean ice cream are indeed vanilla bean seeds, experts confirm, but their presence does little more than offer visual allure and subtle texture.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2025
The yellowing, eventually turning to brown, starts with stippling or tiny dots on the foliage where mites have pierced the leaves’ epidermis with their stylets or sucking mouthparts.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 20 Sep. 2025
The sensor handles up to 70Gs of acceleration and has a sensitivity of up to 30,000 dots per inch (DPI).
—PC Magazine, 18 Sep. 2025
Instead of just surfacing alerts or indicators, these agents aim to conduct investigations, connect dots across data sources and recommend decisive action.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Mixing prints takes the trend to an even more playful approach, so have fun combining plaids with stripes and dots with florals.
—Gabrielle Porcaro, Travel + Leisure, 17 Sep. 2025
This new research, however, could apply some superglue to our broken theories by suggesting a new identity for little red dots and an entirely new class of cosmic object.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Verb
The $3,211 per month maintenance fees cover a part-time doorman and a fitness studio, while the location provides easy access to Madison Square Park plus all the shopping and dining that dots the area.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 22 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dots
Noun
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Yes, these flecks are seeds that were once inside of a vanilla bean, confirms Britton.—
Karla Walsh,
Better Homes & Gardens,
24 Sep. 2025
-
This uncanny coincidence — that the Earth’s radiation lines up with the energies of carbon dioxide’s mixed vibrational/rotational quantum state — is how this tiny trace of molecules, mere flecks in the air, completely dominates our climate.—
Joseph Howlett,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
This is when water from a sprinkler head sprays out onto the sidewalk or street, and that's considered wasted water.—
Yvette Fernandez,
NPR,
28 Aug. 2025
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Like Machado, Tatis sprays the ball to all fields, even on the ground, another reason he can be depended upon to hit for a solid batting average, even while playing his home games in a pitchers’ park.—
Tony Blengino,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The show also sprinkles in factoids about Daniel’s military past, his upbringing in Italy and his fractured family dynamic.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
-
John Wood mans the kit; Jeff Adamczyk sprinkles stars above on keys.—
Jonathan Terrell,
Rolling Stone,
23 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The pattern is a brownish batik produced by specks of tobacco.—
Zuzana Říhová,
Literary Hub,
26 Sep. 2025
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After a few days’ travel, some of the specks landed on a buoy floating in the North Atlantic off the coast of French Guyana.—
Zack Savitsky,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Directed by genre-hopping Ben Wheatley and written by John Wick creator Derek Kolstad from a story hatched by Kolstad and Odenkirk, the subversive Western is a take-no-prisoners gore fest that peppers all the visceral carnage with an equal sprinkling of dry wit.—
Michael Rechtshaffen,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Sep. 2025
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Solomon peppers his story with generational resentments and art-world posturing, while Soderbergh films the interiors of McKellen’s English townhouse like the inner workings of a sarcophagus.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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As the fight is being broken up, Ellen spots her brother with his gun aimed, apparently at Arthur.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
27 Sep. 2025
-
Homeowner spots first blue jay and green jay hybrid in Texas.—
Real-Time News team,
Miami Herald,
26 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The belly is tan or gray with dark blotches.—
Kirsten Fiscus,
Nashville Tennessean,
17 Sep. 2025
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Gopher snakes tend to be tan-colored with large square brown blotches or saddles along their backs and smaller gray spots on their sides.—
Sacbee.com,
Sacbee.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Blood still regularly stains the floors of the Coliseum’s rings.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
16 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dots.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dots. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
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