as in blotch
a small area that is different (as in color) from the main part
canvases covered with streaks and mottles
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of mottle
Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2025
Remember to continue your daily sunscreen use to stave off more mottle.
—Katie Becker, Harper's BAZAAR, 5 Oct. 2015
Cheryl McCloud, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2025
These spots stand out against dark brown backgrounds, mottling their typically beige or gray bodies.
—Katie Liu, Discover Magazine, 16 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for mottle
Noun
As branching coral look-alikes, the cuttlefish splayed out their arms and displayed dark mottles to blend in with staghorn coral.
—Sara Hashemi, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Mar. 2025
Remember to continue your daily sunscreen use to stave off more mottle.
—Katie Becker, Harper's BAZAAR, 5 Oct. 2015
Verb
The Argentine tegu has mottled black and white skin.
—Cheryl McCloud, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2025
These spots stand out against dark brown backgrounds, mottling their typically beige or gray bodies.
—Katie Liu, Discover Magazine, 16 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for mottle
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mottle
Noun
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Their backs are a mixture of cream dots, orange-ish speckles and brown blotches.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
2 June 2025
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These are more typically animals with stripes instead of blotches, missing patterns, and similar.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
People.com,
16 May 2025
Verb
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Allow cookies to cool completely before sprinkling powdered sugar on the walnut cookies.—
Lillian Ali,
Smithsonian Magazine,
17 June 2025
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The Steelers also sprinkled in Cover 2 on about 12 percent of snaps (20th) and some other split-field coverages like Cover 6 (quarter, quarter, half).—
Mike DeFabo,
New York Times,
16 June 2025
Noun
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After drying, Messinger meticulously cleans the artifacts with delicate animal-hair brushes and painstakingly removes rust, fleck by fleck, with a dental pick.—
Tammy Ljungblad,
Kansas City Star,
22 Apr. 2025
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The blue is speckled with some white flecks, which reminds me of blue enamelware pots and pans for a down-home aesthetic.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
26 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Even some of the international prospects who often dotted the late first round and early second are now taking big NIL offers from colleges around the country as their first move to the United States to play basketball.—
Eric Nehm,
New York Times,
18 June 2025
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From tortoiseshell stripes to dotted orange patterns, choose the pitcher that speaks to you the most.—
Kate McGregor,
Architectural Digest,
17 June 2025
Noun
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Examples can be seen as small red patches all across this view of Chamaeleon I. The most recent census of Chamaeleon I, by Penn State University astronomer Kevin Luhman in 2017, found about 50 new stars and brown dwarfs, bringing the total population of Chamaeleon I up to 226 members.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
16 June 2025
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On a branch in a patch of sunlight, the owl landed and stared at us with big, bright, curious yellow eyes.—
The New York Times,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 June 2025
Verb
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As both business owner and head baker — her black chef’s coat is usually powdered with flour, her hands stained with icing — Vee won’t have time this June to participate in the Chicago Pride Parade.—
Sophie Levenson,
Chicago Tribune,
17 June 2025
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The team that would replace us would be stained, football would be stained.—
Felipe Cardenas,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
Noun
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Like specks of dirt falling victim to a vacuum, balls were simply drawn into his glove.—
Kyle Feldscher,
CNN Money,
19 June 2025
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This natural phenomenon, in which light-emitting sea creatures like algae cause the water to glitter with specks of blue and white light, is best viewed on a dark, moonless night.—
Jessie Beck,
AFAR Media,
16 June 2025
Verb
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The rest of the cast creates a convincing family, given and found, around our hero, and there are details aplenty that help the show stick: Jokes are peppered in consistently enough to recognize each character as much more than a vehicle for exposition.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
24 June 2025
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The judge peppered Reuveni with questions: How was Abrego Garcia seized?—
Andrea Hsu,
NPR,
23 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Mottle.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mottle. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.
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