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speckle

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A small spot or speck on the skin, plumage or foliage.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

spehkuhl

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈspɛkəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A small spot or speck on the skin, plumage or foliage.

  2. physics

    The random distribution of light when it is scattered by a rough surface.

verb

  1. Mark with small spots

    “Speckle the wall with tiny yellow spots.”

  2. To mark with speckles.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Rare

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A small spot or speck on the skin, plumage or foliage.

Used this way, speckle is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Mild
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use speckle

  • “Speckle the wall with tiny yellow spots.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

speckle imagingspeckle patternlaser specklespeckle noisespeckle photographyelectronic specklespeckle reductionspeckle size

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • speckled aldernounCompound term

    Common shrub of Canada and northeastern United States having shoots scattered with rust-colored down.

  • speckled rattlesnakenounCompound term

    Markings vary but usually harmonize with background.

  • speckled troutnounCompound term

    A delicious freshwater food fish.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: small spot or speck on the skin

fleck

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.