MOTLEY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does motley mean? 

• MOTLEY (noun)
  The noun MOTLEY has 3 senses:

1. a collection containing a variety of sorts of things

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

  Familiarity information: MOTLEY used as a noun is uncommon.

• MOTLEY (adjective)
  The adjective MOTLEY has 2 senses:

1. consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds

2. having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly

  Familiarity information: MOTLEY used as an adjective is rare.

• MOTLEY (verb)
  The verb MOTLEY has 2 senses:

1. make something more diverse and varied

2. make motley; color with different colors

  Familiarity information: MOTLEY used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MOTLEY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A collection containing a variety of sorts of things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

assortment; miscellanea; miscellany; mixed bag; mixture; motley; potpourri; salmagundi; smorgasbord; variety

Context example:

a veritable smorgasbord of religions

Hypernyms ("motley" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "motley"):

grab bag (an assortment of miscellaneous items)

witch's brew; witches' brew; witches' broth (a fearsome mixture)

range (a variety of different things or activities)

selection (an assortment of things from which a choice can be made)

farrago; gallimaufry; hodgepodge; hotchpotch; melange; mingle-mangle; mishmash; oddments; odds and ends; omnium-gatherum; ragbag (a motley assortment of things)

alphabet soup (a confusing assortment)

sampler (an assortment of various samples)

Derivation:

motley (make something more diverse and varied)

motley (consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A garment made of motley (especially a court jester's costume)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("motley" is a kind of...):

garment (an article of clothing)

Meronyms (substance of "motley"):

motley (a multicolored woolen fabric woven of mixed threads in 14th to 17th century England)

Derivation:

motley (having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A multicolored woolen fabric woven of mixed threads in 14th to 17th century England

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("motley" is a kind of...):

cloth; fabric; material; textile (artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers)

Holonyms ("motley" is a substance of...):

motley (a garment made of motley (especially a court jester's costume))

Derivation:

motley (make motley; color with different colors)

motley (having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly)

• MOTLEY (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds

Synonyms:

assorted; miscellaneous; mixed; motley; sundry

Context example:

sundry sciences commonly known as social

Similar:

heterogeneous; heterogenous (consisting of elements that are not of the same kind or nature)

Derivation:

motley (a collection containing a variety of sorts of things)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly

Synonyms:

calico; motley; multi-color; multi-colored; multi-colour; multi-coloured; multicolor; multicolored; multicolour; multicoloured; painted; particolored; particoloured; piebald; pied; varicolored; varicoloured

Context example:

pied daisies

Similar:

colored; colorful; coloured (having color or a certain color; sometimes used in combination)

Derivation:

motley (a multicolored woolen fabric woven of mixed threads in 14th to 17th century England)

motley (a garment made of motley (especially a court jester's costume))

• MOTLEY (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make something more diverse and varied

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

motley; variegate; vary

Context example:

Vary the menu

Hypernyms (to "motley" is one way to...):

diversify (make (more) diverse)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "motley"):

checker; chequer (variegate with different colors, shades, or patterns)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

motley (a collection containing a variety of sorts of things)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make motley; color with different colors

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

motley; parti-color

Hypernyms (to "motley" is one way to...):

color; color in; colorise; colorize; colour; colour in; colourise; colourize (add color to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

motley (a multicolored woolen fabric woven of mixed threads in 14th to 17th century England)

 Context examples 

All this was novel and strange to the cloister-bred youth; but most interesting of all was the motley circle of guests who sat eating their collops round the blaze.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No man who looked upon that motley crowd could deny that, for good or evil, the love of the ring was confined to no class, but was a national peculiarity, deeply seated in the English nature, and a common heritage of the young aristocrat in his drag and of the rough costers sitting six deep in their pony cart.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They were close by the old north gate of the little town, and Alleyne, half turning in his saddle, looked back at the motley crowd who followed.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

An occasional oil lamp at the corner of a street, or in the portico of some wealthy burgher, threw a faint glimmer over the shining cobblestones, and the varied motley crowd who, in spite of the weather, ebbed and flowed along every highway.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)