Adjacent Words

Motley definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MOT'LEY, a. [Eng.mote.]
1. Variegated in color; consisting of different colors; dappled; as a motley coat.
2. Composed of different or various parts, characters or kinds; diversified; as a motley style.
And doubts of motley hue.
[This word primarily means spotted; but it may signify also striped.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds; "an arrangement of assorted spring flowers"; "assorted sizes"; "miscellaneous accessories"; "a mixed program of baroque and contemporary music"; "a motley crew"; "sundry sciences commonly known as social"- I.A.Richards [syn: assorted, miscellaneous, mixed, motley, sundry]
2: having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly; "a jester dressed in motley"; "the painted desert"; "a particolored dress"; "a piebald horse"; "pied daisies" [syn: motley, calico, multicolor, multi-color, multicolour, multi-colour, multicolored, multi- colored, multicoloured, multi-coloured, painted, particolored, particoloured, piebald, pied, varicolored, varicoloured] n
1: a collection containing a variety of sorts of things; "a great assortment of cars was on display"; "he had a variety of disorders"; "a veritable smorgasbord of religions" [syn: assortment, mixture, mixed bag, miscellany, miscellanea, variety, salmagundi, smorgasbord, potpourri, motley]
2: a garment made of motley (especially a court jester's costume)
3: a multicolored woolen fabric woven of mixed threads in 14th to 17th century England v
1: make something more diverse and varied; "Vary the menu" [syn: vary, variegate, motley]
2: make motley; color with different colors [syn: motley, parti-color]

Merriam Webster's

biographical name John Lothrop 1814-1877 American historian

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, perhaps from mot mote, speck Date: 14th century 1. variegated in color <a motley coat> 2. composed of diverse often incongruous elements <a motley crowd> II. noun Etymology: Middle English, probably from ¹motley Date: 14th century 1. a woolen fabric of mixed colors made in England between the 14th and 17th centuries 2. a garment made of motley; especially the characteristic dress of the professional fool 3. jester, fool 4. a mixture especially of incongruous elements

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. (motlier, motliest) 1 diversified in colour. 2 of varied character (a motley crew). --n. 1 an incongruous mixture. 2 hist. the particoloured costume of a jester. Phrases and idioms: wear motley play the fool. Etymology: ME mottelay, perh. ult. rel. to MOTE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Motley Mot"ley, a. [OE. mottelee, motle; cf. OF. mattel['e] clotted, curdled, OF, ciel mattonn['e] a mottled sky, mate, maton, curdled milk, Prov. G. matte curd. Cf. Mottle.] 1. Variegated in color; consisting of different colors; dappled; party-colored; as, a motley coat. 2. Wearing motley or party-colored clothing. See Motley, n., 1. ``A motley fool.'' --Shak. 3. Composed of different or various parts; heterogeneously made or mixed up; discordantly composite; as, motley style. --Byron.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Motley Mot"ley, n. 1. A combination of distinct colors; esp., the party-colored cloth, or clothing, worn by the professional fool. --Chaucer. ``Motley 's the only wear.'' --Shak. 2. Hence, a jester, a fool. [Obs.] --Shak. Man of motley, a fool. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

You can describe a group of things as a motley collection if you think they seem strange together because they are all very different. ...a motley collection of vans, old buses, cattle-trucks, and even a fire engine... ADJ: ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Variegated, dappled, party-colored, mottled. 2. Heterogeneous, diversified, mingled, composite, mixed.

Moby Thesaurus

Columbine, Hanswurst, Harlequin, Pantalone, Pantaloon, Polichinelle, Pulcinella, Punch, Punchinello, Scaramouch, amalgamated, ambiguous, ambivalent, amphibious, assorted, assortment, at odds, at variance, ballet skirt, band, bar, bespangle, bespeckle, bespot, bicolor, bicolored, bladder, blended, blotch, buffo, buffoon, buskin, calico, cap and bells, capricious, changeable, changing, check, checker, choppy, chromatic, clouded, clown, cold, colluvies, colorful, colorific, coloring, colory, combined, complex, composite, compound, compounded, conglomerate, contrary, contrasted, contrasting, cool, costume, coxcomb, crazy, daedal, dapple, dappled, departing, deviating, deviative, deviatory, dichromatic, different, differentiated, differing, disaccordant, disagreeing, discolor, discordant, discrepant, discrete, discriminated, disguise, disjoined, disorderly, disparate, dissimilar, dissonant, distinct, distinguished, divaricate, divergent, diverging, divers, divers-colored, diverse, diversified, diversiform, dot, eclectic, equivocal, erose, erratic, fifty-fifty, flake, fleck, fool, freckle, gallimaufry, getup, glowing, half-and-half, harlequin, harmonious, heterogeneous, hodgepodge, idiot, impulsive, in disagreement, inaccordant, incompatible, incongruous, inconsistent, inconsonant, inconstant, indiscriminate, inharmonious, intricate, iris, ironic, irreconcilable, irregular, jack-pudding, jagged, jerky, jester, jumble, jumbled, kaleidoscopic, maculate, many, many-colored, many-sided, marble, marbled, marbleize, masquerade, matching, medley, mercurial, merry-andrew, mingled, miscellaneous, mixed, monochromatic, monochrome, monochromic, motley fool, mottle, mottled, multicolor, multicolored, multicolorous, multifaceted, multifarious, multihued, multinational, multiracial, mutable, nonconformist, nonstandard, nonuniform, omnium-gatherum, outfit, parti-color, parti-colored, pastiche, patchy, pepper, pepper-and-salt, pickle-herring, piebald, pied, pigmentary, pinto, pluralistic, poles apart, poles asunder, polychromatic, polychrome, polychromic, polychromize, prismal, prismatic, promiscuous, ragged, rainbow, rig, rough, salad, scrambled, separate, separated, several, shot, shot through, skewbald, slapstick, sock, spangle, spasmodic, speck, speckle, spectral, splotch, sporadic, spot, sprinkle, stigmatize, stipple, streak, striate, stripe, stud, syncretic, tattoo, tessellate, thrown together, thunder and lightning, tights, tinctorial, tingent, toning, trichromatic, trichromic, tricolor, tricolored, tutu, two-tone, unconformable, uncongenial, unequable, unequal, uneven, unlike, unorthodox, unstable, unsteady, unsystematic, ununiform, variable, variant, varicolored, varied, variegate, variegated, variform, various, varying, vein, versicolor, versicolored, warm, wavering, widely apart, worlds apart, zany