motley Hear it!

motley Definition

mot·ley (mät′lē)

adjective

  1. of many colors or patches of color
  2. Rare wearing many-colored garments a motley fool
  3. having or composed of many different or clashing elements; heterogeneous a motley group

Etymology: ME mottley < ?

noun

  1. cloth of mixed colors
  2. Rare a garment of various colors, worn by a clown or jester
  3. Rare a fool or jester
  4. a combination of diverse or clashing elements

Motley Definition

Mot·ley (mät′lē)

Motley, John Lothrop (lō′t̸hrəp) 1814-77; U.S. historian & diplomat

motley Synonyms

motley

modif.

  1. Varied

    multiform, mixed, heterogeneous, ragged; see various.

  2. Varicolored

    prismatic, mottled, kaleidoscopic; see bright 2, multicolored.

motley Usage Examples

Converse of object

leave: Wherefore, leaving the motley, I rest, Madam, Your faithful friend and servant.

Adjective modifier

full: The event really came into its own when in February 1967 Clown Smokey succeeded in gaining permission for Clowns to attend in full motley.

Modifies a noun

  • crue: Yahoo is the next most popular, followed by a motley crue of no-hoper search engines I really wonder why people use.
  • assortment: It was a medium sized room with a motley assortment of aging SGI and PC hardware lining the walls, all running Linux.
  • crew: John surveys his motley crew with Chris at the wheel.
  • bunch: A real star, which is more than you can say about the motley bunch in the foreground.
  • crowd: This motley crowd of heavily armored devil worshipping freaks should be a match for anybody.
  • collection: The freight rolling stock is a motley collection of vehicles of all types.

Modifying Another Word

  • rather: All of these added up to a rather motley spectrum and to an ambivalent score.
  • very: The Regimental History records A very motley crew they were, in every sort of civilian garment, not excluding bowler hats and shorts.
  • somewhat: The force altogether was imposing, but at the same time of a somewhat motley character.