MOTES Synonyms: 99 Similar and Opposite Words

motes

noun

plural of mote

as in specks

a very small piece there's not a mote of dirt in that woman's house

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of motes Tiny bugs float in the sun like dust motes, and there are graceful flies large enough to require a runway landing. — John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 4 May 2026 Sunbeams through the windows illuminate floating dust motes—and, imperceptibly, microdroplets of mucus carrying the measles virus, expelled from an infected but asymptomatic child who is hopping and laughing among the others. — Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026 Easily swept up by wind and carried long distances by water, these tiny motes are also exceedingly difficult to detect and almost impossible to remove from the environment. — K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 22 Jan. 2026 There’s a Gambit-adjacent one that has players depositing motes while killing other teams. — Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025 The sensors’ small size allows seamless integration into almost any environment, while the wireless, modular design lets motes be added or removed as needed depending on the application. — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2025 Powering and recording signals from multiple motes will require new techniques and better signal processing. — Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Oct. 2016

Recent Examples of Synonyms for motes

Noun

Calcium shows up as bright white specks on the coronary artery images.

— Hanna Wickes, Kansas City Star, 20 Aug. 2026
Pay close attention to where leaves meet the stem, the underside of leaves, and within the petals for any movement or tiny specks.

— Jamie Cuccinelli, Martha Stewart, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of specks

Noun

Most is in the form of subatomic particles called neutrinos, which carry little energy individually but are generated in vast numbers when a star explodes.

— Phil Plait, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2026
The sound of the title track is reminiscent of kicking a pebble on a road or watching dust particles dancing in a shaft of light.

— Vogue, Vogue, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of particles

Noun

Amid his vast responsibilities running all the departments in the Giants’ front office, Zaidi still found the time to pore over MLB Draft League statistics and look for flecks of gold.

— Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2026
Little flecks of roasted sweet potato pepper the cake, and a tangy cream cheese glaze is a perfect complement to the warm spices and crunchy topping.

— Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of flecks

Noun

My most memorable taste, however, was the day’s market catch, a mix of little-neck clams, octopus, and tilefish, served in a bowl of savory brodo made from leftover fish bones and bits.

— Colleen McNally Arnett, Southern Living, 20 Aug. 2026
McCollough thought Watts was a comedic genius, and the pair shared a similar sense of humor, establishing their own bits and improvisational riffs.

— Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of bits

Noun

Carlsbad and other coastal cities south of Oceanside worry that any plan to keep sand on the shoreline north of them would prevent the precious grains of grit from migrating south in ocean currents to land on their own eroding beaches.

— Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Aug. 2026
Grain-free Cats are carnivores and don’t need grains in their diets.

— BestReviews, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2026

Definition of grains

Noun

Add the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until no patches of flour remain.

— ABC News, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026
Anastasia’s ultra-slim Brow Wiz has been the industry’s answer for years because its micro-tip draws individual hairs where none exist while filling in patches with fullness.

— Valeriya Chupinina, Vogue, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of patches

Noun

The electrode is built from a two-dimensional conductive metal-organic framework (MOF), a porous material made by connecting metal components with organic molecules.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 20 Aug. 2026
As the laundry gun shoots plasma into fabric, the electrons collide with gas molecules in the surrounding air, such as oxygen (O2) and water vapor (H2O).

— Rahul Rao, Space.com, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of molecules

Noun

Media writers covering the monologue predictably seized on those scraps for their headlines.

— James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 18 Aug. 2026
Take one scroll through his Instagram account, which shows off photos of trotters (pig feet) stuffed with sweetbreads (animal pancreas) and Alsatian headcheese (a mold made of pig scraps, usually from the animal’s head).

— Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of scraps

Browse Nearby Words

motels

motes

motet

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“Motes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/motes. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of motes

noun

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