specks 1 of 2

noun

plural of speck
1
as in flecks
a small area that is different (as in color) from the main part a lizard with specks of white against a green body

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in splashes
a very small amount not a speck of explanation to accompany the book's pictures

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in particles
a very small piece a speck of dust was preventing the laser from reading the disc

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

specks

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of speck
as in sprinkles
to mark with small spots especially unevenly dirt that had specked the windows of the factory for ages

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 specks
Noun
Six months later, there was hope of reconciliation as sovereignty talks opened between the governments over the specks in the ocean that had been part of the British Empire for more than a century. — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 July 2026 Bellinger, once a babyface, now sports some light specks of gray. — Johnny Flores Jr, New York Times, 15 July 2026 One released a chaff cascade—hell’s own monsoon manifesting as specks of light, sound, and EM pulses falling through the hanging garden. — Jeff Spry, Space.com, 26 June 2026 Kansas City isn't much of a pedestrian city, but now, blue and green specks of fans dot the sidewalks, like wildflowers poking through a crack in the pavement. — Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 June 2026 Flash frames, scratches and specks of dust pop up randomly on the screen. — Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026 This looks like tiny black or reddish-brown specks that resemble coffee grounds. — Emily Hayes, Martha Stewart, 9 June 2026 But such interludes add up to small specks of stormclouds in the show’s otherwise sunny skies. — Alison Herman, Variety, 2 June 2026 Most astronomers now agree that each of these minuscule crimson specks—which bear a striking resemblance to enormous, faraway stars—actually has a burgeoning black hole at its center. — Joseph Howlett, Scientific American, 27 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for specks
  1. flecks
  2. splashes
  3. particles
  4. sprinkles
  5. dots
  6. glimmers
  7. bits
  8. stains
Noun
  • One image of her right knee showed flecks of blue plastic that prosecutors said came from an inflatable pool Burke used to collect blood while dismembering her body.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 21 July 2026
  • Someone unfamiliar with salt bread might even suspect a major baking error, seeing a questionably smooth croissant that entirely missed the lamination process, adorned with only a few flecks of salt acting as its saving grace.
    — Candy Hom, AJC.com, 19 July 2026
Definition of flecks
Noun
  • Four-poster beds and traditional wicker and mahogany interiors preserve the building’s original beauty, while splashes of color in the artwork and brightly hued soft furnishings add character.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 July 2026
  • Spread a sheet of plastic or cloth over the porch if needed to protect the surface from splashes.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 18 July 2026
Definition of splashes
Noun
  • Storm clouds forming around the smoke in the atmosphere could create dirty rain, but it is more commonly formed with larger particles compared to the smoke’s fine particulate matter.
    — Nicole Pilsbury, Baltimore Sun, 17 July 2026
  • Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in which two or more particles become connected.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 17 July 2026
Definition of particles
Verb
  • Kemery sprinkles the tiny seeds either in late fall or very early spring, when there’s still a chance of frost, since cold spells offer the best germination.
    — SJ McShane, Martha Stewart, 11 July 2026
  • Thomson sprinkles critique throughout his book like seasoning unevenly applied to a gamey piece of meat.
    — Michael O’Donnell, The Atlantic, 2 July 2026
Definition of sprinkles
Noun
  • Quantum dots are crystalline semiconductor particles roughly 60 million times smaller than a tennis ball, typically featuring a core-shell structure.
    — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 20 July 2026
  • United flies more internationally than Delta and American, and made its geography quiz-like network a calling card and , adding dots on the map from Mongolia to Galicia, Spain.
    — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 19 July 2026
Definition of dots
Noun
  • But there are glimmers of romance, too, courtesy of Hollis’ childhood boyfriend Jack, played by Timothy Olyphant.
    — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 10 July 2026
  • And, notes Fredriksen, in the big picture disasters of the Anthropocene, even glimmers are important.
    — Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 6 July 2026
Definition of glimmers
Noun
  • The juvenile then ate the smaller bits of sunfish that had exploded due to the impact, while the adults fed on what remained of the body, but did not consume the smaller sunfish fragments.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 23 July 2026
  • Advertisement One of the film’s comedic bits is your character and Jake Johnson’s character playing against a team in which both players grunt loudly on the court.
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 23 July 2026
Definition of bits
Verb
  • When that protective finish gets damaged, the toilet actually stains easier and is harder to keep clean over time.
    — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 24 May 2026
  • What Sacks doesn’t get is that by financing and diplomatically supporting Israel, our country makes the crimes of the Israeli government possible, which stains America’s reputation in the world and drains our Treasury.
    — Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2026
Definition of stains

Browse Nearby Words

speckling
specks
specs
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Cite this Entry

“Specks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/specks. Accessed 24 Jul. 2026.

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