Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

speckle

/ˈspɛkəl/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.23 in modern English

Syllables: speck-le
IPA: /ˈspɛkəl/

15

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small spot or speck on the skin, plumage or foliage.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

The random distribution of light when it is scattered by a rough surface.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A cluster of interchromatin granules in a nucleus.

Countable; Uncountable

verb

To mark with speckles.

Etymology

The noun is from Middle Dutch spekkel; the verb was later coined from the noun, in the late 16th century.

Usage

Inflected Forms

speckles (plural) speckles (present, singular) speckling (participle, present) speckled (participle, past) speckled (past)

Derived Forms

bespeckle biospeckle despeckle microspeckle multispeckle paraspeckle perispeckle specklebreast speckled specklegram speckly

Phrases

speckle-fronted weaver speckle imaging

Synonyms

splicing speckle spot dapple patch fleck maculation bespeckle stipple

Rhymes With

jekyll heckle freckle shekel eckel heckel jaeckel meckel steckel seckel dekle haeckel

Questions

How do you pronounce speckle?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈspɛkəl/.
What does speckle mean?: A small spot or speck on the skin, plumage or foliage.
Where does speckle come from?: The noun is from Middle Dutch spekkel; the verb was later coined from the noun, in the late 16th century.

How to pronounce speckle

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “speckle”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈspɛkəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “speckle”.
Repeat and practice — Say “speckle” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.