Motley
['mɒtlɪ] or ['mɑtli]
Definition
(noun.) a multicolored woolen fabric woven of mixed threads in 14th to 17th century England.
(noun.) a garment made of motley (especially a court jester's costume).
(verb.) make motley; color with different colors.
(adj.) 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' .
Typed by Gus--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Variegated in color; consisting of different colors; dappled; party-colored; as, a motley coat.
(a.) Wearing motley or party-colored clothing. See Motley, n., 1.
(n.) Composed of different or various parts; heterogeneously made or mixed up; discordantly composite; as, motley style.
(n.) A combination of distinct colors; esp., the party-colored cloth, or clothing, worn by the professional fool.
(n.) Hence, a jester, a fool.
Editor: Solomon
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Variegated, dappled, MOTTLED.[2]. Heterogeneous, of various kinds.
Typed by Gilda
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Parti-colored, variegated, mixed, medley, heterogeneous, diversified
ANT:Uniform, homogeneous, alike, monochromatic, mottled,[SeeMOTLEY_and_MACULATED]
Typist: Tabitha
Definition
adj. covered with spots of different colours: consisting of different colours: composed of various parts heterogeneous.—n. clothes made of pieces of different colours: the dress of a jester: any mixture esp. of colours.—adj. Mot′ley-mind′ed (Shak.) having fickle and foolish thoughts and feelings.—Man of motley a jester.
Editor: Marilyn
Examples
- The motley of people under his rule knew little of him and cared less. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The doctor will come up to us too for the last time there, my friend in motley. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Quite a train was collected during the 30th, and a motley train it was. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- As early as 1849 Clarke and Motley, in England, invented a machine drill, and in 1851 Fowle devised a similar machine, having the drill attached directly to the piston cross head. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The other occupants of the room, five in number, were all females, and they were still sleeping, piled high with a motley array of silks and furs. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- It is true, I gave a little ground at first, for a motley jacket does not brook lance-heads, as a steel doublet will. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- She was wearing a curious dress of dark silk splashed and spattered with different colours, a curious motley effect. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Facing the little knot of officers was the entire motley crew of the Fuwalda, and at their head stood Black Michael. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- The room was soon filled with a motley assemblage, from the old gray-headed patriarch of eighty, to the young girl and lad of fifteen. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- O brother wearers of motley! William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Mixing carelessly in the motley throng, I did not discover this charming spot till I had been there some time. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- We do not all wear motley. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Yes, I said; his life is motley and manifold and an epitome of the lives of many;--he answers to the State which we described as fair and spangled. Plato. The Republic.
- It was to the leaders of this motley army that the letter of the Templar was now delivered. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- There was a strange and appalling motley in the situation of these the last of the race. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
Checker: Polly