motley
mot·ley
noun
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”
adjective
1.
consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds (even to the point of incongruity)
- “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
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”
verb
Origin
From Middle English motle, from Anglo-Norman motteley (“parti-colored”), from Old English mot (“speck”). Doublet of mote. The English word can be analysed as mottle + -y.
Phrases
- motley crew
- motley fool
- motley iron
Related words
Word family
Broader terms
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.