motley

UK:**UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈmɒtli/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈmɑtli/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(mot′lē)

Inflections of 'motley' (n): npl: motleys

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
mot•ley /ˈmɑtli/USA pronunciation   adj. 
  1. showing greatly different elements or parts that make up the whole;
    heterogeneous:a motley crowd of spectators.
  2. being of different colors combined.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
mot•ley  (mot′lē),USA pronunciation adj., n., pl. -leys. 
adj. 
    1. exhibiting great diversity of elements;
      heterogeneous:a motley crowd.
    2. being of different colors combined;
      parti-colored:a motley flower border.
    3. wearing a parti-colored garment:a motley fool.

    n. 
    1. a combination of different colors.
    2. a parti-colored effect.
    3. the parti-colored garment of a jester.
    4. a heterogeneous assemblage.
    5. a medley.
    • 1350–1400; Middle English; see mote1, -ly
      1. . varied, mixed, incongruous.
Mot•ley  (mot′lē),USA pronunciation n. 
    John Lo•throp  (lō′thrəp),USA pronunciation 1814–77, U.S. historian and diplomat.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
motley /ˈmɒtlɪ/ adj
  1. made up of elements of varying type, quality, etc
  2. multicoloured
 n
  1. a motley collection or mixture
  2. the particoloured attire of a jester
Etymology: 14th Century: perhaps from mot speck, mote1
'motley' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
mottle - raggle-taggle - varicoloured - varicolored

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