How to Use mottle in a Sentence

mottle

verb
  • The sides may be mottled with brown blotches.
    — Ken Perrotte, Outdoor Life, 4 June 2026
  • But Tariq’s body was already cold, and his skin was mottled.
    — Ben Taub, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
  • Like skin on the body, my memories of him are mottled with these scars.
    — Debra Kamin, Condé Nast Traveler, 20 Oct. 2021
  • The next day, as the bananas were mottling, a brainstorm hit.
    — Susan Gubar, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2020
  • The viruses mottle, yellow, or curl leaves and stunt plant growth.
    — Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 30 June 2023
  • The Illinois skies are mottled.
    — Matthew Shen Goodman, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Kelvin steers the truck over a dry lagoon mottled with hippo prints to get closer.
    — Ken Geiger, National Geographic, 17 June 2019
  • What was once a teardrop below one eye now looks like a bruise or a birthmark, and scars mottle his hands.
    — Jonathan Blitzer, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2017
  • The air rang with random alarms; the soft surfaces were mottled with mystery stains.
    — Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
  • The animal, with bared teeth and mottled fur, appeared ready to lunge.
    — Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2019
  • The damage causes plant foliage to look bronzed, flecked or mottled.
    — Betty Cahill, The Denver Post, 24 June 2019
  • Gray paint on the side of the building was still sooty and peeling, the sidewalk mottled and black.
    — Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2019
  • Its flowers are huge and orange, marked or mottled with maroon splotches.
    — Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2026
  • Shiny and dark evergreen foliage is held aloft on strong, arching stems mottled with purple flecks.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 21 Dec. 2025
  • The Earth is a tiny mottled ball at upper left and the moon is little more than a grey speck in the lower right corner.
    — Matthew Nighswander, NBC News, 29 Sep. 2017
  • Like every other dog around here, Dounia was small, thin, sharp-snouted, and mottled brown and white.
    — New York Times, 18 June 2018
  • The mosquito, mottled in neon pink and purple, can be seen on a nearby computer screen.
    — Ari Daniel, NPR, 11 June 2026
  • His black cap and chest mottled with brown flecks distinguish him from a dozen other warblers with yellow bodies.
    — Ben Raines, AL.com, 20 Apr. 2018
  • Sam wriggles into her knickers, trying to hide her pale, mottled flesh under the towel.
    — Jojo Moyes, Marie Claire, 12 Oct. 2016
  • Some of species' pitchers have mottled coloring that looks a bit like tasty carrion, which lures prey inside the pitcher.
    — Liz Langley, National Geographic, 30 Oct. 2019
  • When the bottom tortilla is nicely mottled with golden-brown spots, flip the whole thing and cook until the cheese is melted.
    — Daniel Neman, Twin Cities, 6 June 2019
  • The Sundems' garage door is mottled with ball marks, the graffiti of a thousand games of Garage.
    — Steve Rushin, SI.com, 21 June 2017
  • Ever been on a run through the woods and notice litter mottling the otherwise natural scenery?
    — Nicole Spector /, NBC News, 16 June 2018
  • Steckly had a long and mottled driving history, dating back to age 19.
    — oregonlive, 15 May 2020
  • Their roots decayed, their growth was stunted, their leaves turned blotchy and mottled, and their fruit was misshapen, bitter and inedible.
    — Sena Christian, Newsweek, 19 Nov. 2015
  • The light from these sources danced unpredictably and was always mottled by the smoke of imperfect combustion.
    — Christopher Preston, Smithsonian, 26 Nov. 2019
  • Top high-school football, a relentless quest for excellence mottled by local circumstances, is in this sense sport at its best.
    — The Economist, 14 Dec. 2019
  • Plants cover the ground in gorgeous blue-green foliage mottled with silver spots, making a lovely planting beneath trees and large shrubs.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 21 Dec. 2025
  • The virus must have wreaked damage, transforming a smooth, healthy liver into a leathery organ, mottled with nodules.
    — Carolyn Y. Johnson, chicagotribune.com, 3 July 2017
  • There was tomato red, pumpkin orange, mustard yellow, mottled forest green, light cocoa and even a purplish gray.
    — Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian, kansascity, 31 Mar. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mottle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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