patchy

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 patchy The Hubble Space Telescope captured a new image of NGC 5530, which is classified as a flocculent spiral galaxy due to its patchy and indistinct arms, according to a statement from the European Space Agency (ESA). Samantha Mathewson, Space.com, 7 Apr. 2025 By early summer, the weed turns brown, leaving a patchy circular area on the lawn, which often is mistaken for disease, says Waltz. Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 24 Mar. 2025 The showers are expected to continue throughout the rest of the day with patchy fog and high near 59. Racquel Bazos, Baltimore Sun, 15 Feb. 2025 Fortunately, the January transfer window has at least helped bolster an otherwise patchy defence. Brett Koremenos, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for patchy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patchy
Adjective
  • On the show Hill would buy dilapidated homes, fix them up and sell them for a profit.
    Jennifer Sangalang, USA Today, 13 May 2025
  • The manager of a dilapidated building called the Workers’ Cultural Palace gives a speech about his plans for the space.
    David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 9 May 2025
Adjective
  • Offering a 23% concentration of pure vitamin C, this formula delivers some serious brightening benefits, resulting in a more even-looking complexion and faded hyperpigmentation.
    Denise Primbet, Glamour, 28 Apr. 2025
  • Everything below that will be flooded, according to IPCC predictions, so his maps show those areas as underwater, with what’s land today shown as a faded layer.
    Carlton Reid, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Next, blanket the area with a 2-inch-thick layer of mulch, such as shredded bark, leaf mold, compost, or pine straw.
    Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 May 2025
  • Ortega’s gothic gown was complete with a gravity-defying, asymmetrical skirt with a ruffled — and almost shredded — appearance and a pop of gold courtesy of chain details draped across the folds.
    Bailey Richards, People.com, 6 May 2025
Adjective
  • Davis was more or less rocking his signature look — a red Adidas tracksuit, hair in mangy dreads.
    Ed Masley, The Arizona Republic, 4 Oct. 2024
  • His Orlok is more feral and red-blooded than previous iterations, appearing swathed in ursine furs and accompanied by mangy curs.
    Celia Mattison, Vulture, 27 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • As for washing, the white will hold up to about 20 cycles before starting to look a little dingy, but the black holds up fine, and both will hold their shape.
    Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 25 Apr. 2025
  • Dust Everything Dust can become your invisible worst enemy, making every surface look dingy and wreak havoc on anyone suffering from allergies.
    Stacey Leasca, Southern Living, 30 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • And Answers For Saturday, May 10 Over the past sixteen years, DiBella has spent millions patching up a decrepit ballpark that has been home base for his club and the Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team.
    Vitas Carosella, Forbes.com, 10 May 2025
  • Most large pieces of space junk — decrepit satellites and spent rocket bodies, for example — break apart during their fiery trips back to Earth, creating artificial meteor showers.
    Mike Wall, Space.com, 10 May 2025
Adjective
  • But the story is lumpy too, its mechanical interweaving of Shakespeare and Disney somehow both predictable and holey.
    New York Times, New York Times, 24 Oct. 2021
  • In a 2018 Frontiers in Psychiatry case study, a girl with trypophobia reported being triggered by seeds on bread, polka dot or animal prints, holey cheese, and honeycomb.
    Natasha Lavender, SELF, 26 July 2019
Adjective
  • Long been derided as tacky, commercial non-art, sitcoms with background laughter over the years have been condemned as a dystopian form of joke mind control.
    James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 9 May 2025
  • When women talk about money it is still considered tacky, a topic that women should not be speaking of.
    Melissa Houston, Forbes.com, 3 May 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Patchy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patchy. Accessed 20 May. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on patchy

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!