What does "blotch" mean?
An uneven patch of color or discoloration.
Blotch
/blɒtʃ/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An uneven patch of color or discoloration.
- Grammar: blotch is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abscess, band, bar, bedarken.
- Useful contrasts: clarity, consistency, even.
- Usage evidence: The bird was a dark blotch against the sky.
How to use "blotch"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "blotch" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "blotch" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "blotch" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "blotch" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "blotch" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abscess" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "blotch", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An uneven patch of color or discoloration.
"1711, Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, The Spectator, London: J. & R. Tonson, 12th edition, Volume I, No. 16, p. 68, […] in healing those Blotches and Tumours which break out in the body […]"
- 2 an irregularly shaped spot wordnet
- 3 An irregularly shaped area.
"At Coleman's Hill, the upper beds consist of yellowish, soft, gritty sandstone, containing some small calcareous fragments, a few pebbles of quartz, blotches of red shale, and fragments of sandstone with impressions of stems of plants."
- 4 Imperfection; blemish on one’s reputation, stain. figuratively
"1921, Warren G. Harding, Inaugural address, in Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States: from George Washington to Barack Obama, Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O., 1989, There never can be equality of rewards or possessions so long as the human plan contains varied talents and differing degrees of industry and thrift, but ours ought to be a country free from the great blotches of distressed poverty."
- 5 Any of various crop diseases that cause the plant to form spots.
"The fungus causing blotch lives through the winter in the cankers which it has developed on twigs, water sprouts, and fruit spurs."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A bright or dark spot on old film caused by dirt and loss of the gelatin covering the film, due to age and poor film quality.
"Characteristics of blotches are that they seldom appear at the same spatial location in consecutive frames, they tend to be smooth (little texture), and they usually have intensity values that are very different from the original contents they cover."
- 7 A dark spot on the skin; a pustule.
- 8 Blotting paper. slang
Verb
- 1 To mark with blotches. transitive
"1770, Arthur Young, A Six Months Tour through the North of England, London: W. Strahan, Volume 2, p. 258, Upon the whole, the spirit and relief of the figures, with the strength of the colouring, render it a most noble picture; and it is not done in the coarse blotching stile, so common to the pieces which pass under the name of Bassan."
- 2 mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained wordnet
- 3 To develop blotches, to become blotchy. intransitive
"1878, Arthur Morecamp (pseudonym of Thomas Pilgrim), Live Boys; or, Charley and Nasho in Texas, Boston: Lee & Shepard, Chapter 17, p. 166, […] when a man is going to drive cattle out of the county he has to put a road-brand on them […] It is generally made of letters or figures, or something that won’t cross lines, because where they cross they are apt to blotch and then it’s hard to tell what the brand is and who the animal belongs to."
Antonyms
Example
"The bird was a dark blotch against the sky."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "blotch"?
Common synonyms include: abscess, band, bar, bedarken, besmirch, bespangle.
How do you use "blotch" in a sentence?
The bird was a dark blotch against the sky.
How do you pronounce "blotch"?
Pronounced /blɒtʃ/.
Etymology
Uncertain. Perhaps a blend of blot + botch.