What does "stipple" mean?

The use of small dots that give the appearance of shading; the dots thus used.

What is a synonym for "stipple"?

Common synonyms include: apply paint, autolithograph, band, bar, be a printmaker, bedaub.

//ˈstɪpəl// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Noun

1
The use of small dots that give the appearance of shading; the dots thus used. countable, uncountable
"Glory be to God for dappled things— / For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; / For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim: […]"

Verb

1
To use small dots to give the appearance of shading to. transitive
"Don’t you think, Major Vampyre, that eye-brow ſtippled very prettily?"
2
produce a mottled effect wordnet
3
apply (paint) in small dots or strokes wordnet
4
make by small short touches that together produce an even or softly graded shadow, as in paint or ink wordnet
5
engrave by means of dots and flicks wordnet

"Glory be to God for dappled things— / For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; / For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim: […]"

Probably from Dutch stippel (“small dot”), originally applied to the dots themselves and later to the technique.

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