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
Pulse a few times, until crumbs range in size from specks to peas.

— Leah Eskin, Midwest Living, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of specks

Noun

Taken on July 24, during a particularly large influx of solar particles into the atmosphere, the observations reveal the full extent of the northern lights in UV light.

— Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 30 Sep. 2026
The rule also translates to an extra 90 tons a year of soot particles and 4,870 additional tons a year of smog components such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds emitted into the air in coming years, experts say.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 29 Sep. 2026

Definition of particles

Noun

The oversized jacket featured a furry white base adorned with flecks of silver, which beautifully mirrored the sumptuous coats on the runway.

— Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 25 Sep. 2026
Add the torn basil and process just until incorporated -- there will be flecks of green in the mixture.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of flecks

Noun

Drawn from the Times or local rags, the cutouts sometimes included images; others were just bits of text from the news or obituary sections.

— Ryan Sullivan, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
Unavoidably the text has been chopped and channeled, with some swapping of parts, bits of narration screwed into dialogue and events described in a paragraph blown out into scenes.

— Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of bits

Noun

How Long Bird Seed Lasts Most bird seed lasts six to 12 months when stored properly, with high-oil food types generally spoiling faster than grains like corn, milo, millet, or oats.

— Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 27 Sep. 2026
The even mixing of the isotopes suggests that it was formed from fine dust grains rather than clumpy, coarser material.

— Keith Cooper, Space.com, 27 Sep. 2026

Definition of grains

Noun

Elsewhere in the top 10 were Eos and The Ordinary, while Hero Cosmetics took the number-10 spot for its signature pimple patches.

— Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2026
The support page is meant for IT administrators, and mainly reiterates what Google already announced, including regular updates and security patches for ChromeOS through mid-2034.

— Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of patches

Noun

The compound belongs to a chemical family that includes molecules responsible for the red color of blood and the green color of leaves.

— Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2026
Carbs are broken down into glucose molecules when digested and ultimately have the greatest impact on your blood sugar compared to other macronutrients like protein and fat.

— Lauren Panoff, Verywell Health, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of molecules

Noun

For the preview, Preston is using eX-Ray recycled cotton made from pre-consumer factory offcuts and production scraps, along with deadstock fabric from past collections.

— Ryma Chikhoune, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026
The storm scraps flights, concerts and sports events The storm forced a change of plans for many people.

— Matthew Mulligan, NBC news, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of scraps

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motels

motes

motet

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“Motes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/motes. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of motes

noun

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