Mottle

//ˈmɑ.təl// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A distinguishing blotch of colour. countable
  2. 2
    an irregular arrangement of patches of color wordnet
  3. 3
    A mottled or spotted pattern. countable, uncountable

    "The most common symptom is a mild mottle on the youngest leaves of infected plants."

  4. 4
    Any of several species of genus Logania of butterflies, found from Burma to the Philippines and New Guinea. countable, uncountable
Verb
  1. 1
    To mark with blotches of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.

    "Between the grey mist of rainclouds the sun suddenly appeared to mottle the wet asphalt of Marble Arch in patches of silver and ebony."

  2. 2
    colour with streaks or blotches of different shades wordnet
  3. 3
    mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
bandbarbespanglebespecklebespotbirthmark

Example

More examples

"His silhouette was distorted by the mottle on the glass."

Etymology

1670-80. Probably back-formation from motley.

Related phrases

Malayan mottledark mottlepale mottlerounded mottle

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.