motley
/ˈmɑtli/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.09 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Comprising greatly varied elements, to the point of incongruity.
adj
Having many colours; variegated.
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "I met a fool i' th' forest, / A motley' fool."
- "Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers,[…]. Even such a boat as the Mount Vernon offered a total deck space so cramped as to leave secrecy or privacy well out of the question, even had the motley and democratic assemblage of passengers been disposed to accord either."
- ""One of them can see you, and one of them can see an empty hallway." Reynders narrowed her bleary eyes — she wasn't wearing her glasses, for some reason — as though momentarily uncertain which sight she was seeing. She apparently decided in favour of their motley group. "I'm the one who can see you. The one who can see you can talk to you. The one who can't talk to you can see you too, sometimes, but she doesn't want to because she knows you're not there. Where she is.""
- "Wil you be married, Motley?"
- "Alas, 'tis true, I have gone here and there, / And made myself a motley to the view, […]"
Etymology
From Middle English motle, from Anglo-Norman motteley (“parti-colored”), from Old English mot (“speck”). Doublet of mote. The English word can be analysed as mottle + -y.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmɑtli/
- British English: /ˈmɒtli/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more motley (comparative)
motlier (comparative)
motleyer (comparative)
most motley (superlative)
motliest (superlative)
motleyest (superlative)
motleys (plural)
motleys (present, singular)
motleying (participle, present)
motleyed (participle, past)
motleyed (past)