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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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

According to the scientists, the EIC will circulate two beams of particles (ions and electrons) in opposite directions.

— Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 21 Aug. 2026
This code, developed at Switzerland’s University of Bern over two decades, is designed to simulate collisions between asteroids, comets and planets, and analyze the impact by looking at millions of individual particles involved in each scenario.

— Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of particles

Noun

The soup itself has an almost lemon curd-like acidity and sweetness, and it’s laced with flecks of fresh corn and tiny diced pieces of zucchini.

— Anne Ewbank, Sacbee.com, 19 Aug. 2026
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

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

This sintering method produced a tough bulk composite where diamond grains are held inside a continuous cubic boron nitride structure, with cobalt spread throughout the material.

— Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 20 Aug. 2026
The best breads are made from whole or sprouted grains and contain fiber and protein with minimal processing.

— Staff Author, HEALTH, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of grains

Noun

Unlike the James Webb Space Telescope, which trades panoramic views for a narrow field of view to peer deeply into small, specific patches of the sky, Roman is built for scale.

— Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 26 Aug. 2026
Scalp Around half of people with psoriasis have symptoms affecting their scalp, such as silvery-white scaly patches, itching, and pain.

— Ruth Jessen Hickman, HEALTH, 25 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

Their mother, Avie Lee, would sew scraps of fabric together to make clothes for the family.

— Preston Fore, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
The foundational text of Parton’s career, this 1971 single lovingly details her mother’s make-do resilience, stitching a fall coat from scraps of cloth in the spirit of a beloved Bible story.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of scraps

Browse Nearby Words

motels

motes

motet

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Motes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/motes. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of motes

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

southpaw

Popular in Grammar & Usage

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Commonly Misspelled Words

Popular in Wordplay

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 28

Why do we say 'break a leg'?

Popular

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Games & Quizzes