Motley \Mot"ley\, a. [OE. mottelee, motle; cf. OF. mattel['e]
clotted, curdled, OF, ciel mattonn['e] a mottled sky, mate,
maton, curdled milk, Prov. G. matte curd. Cf. Mottle.]
1. Variegated in color; consisting of different colors;
dappled; party-colored; as, a motley coat.
[1913 Webster]
2. Wearing motley or party-colored clothing. See Motley,
n., 1. "A motley fool." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. Composed of different or various parts; heterogeneously
made or mixed up; discordantly composite; as, motley
style. --Byron.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Motley \Mot"ley\, n.
1. A combination of distinct colors; esp., the party-colored
cloth, or clothing, worn by the professional fool.
--Chaucer. "Motley 's the only wear." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Hence, a jester, a fool. [Obs.] --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Man of motley, a fool. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
motley
adj 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 [syn: assorted, miscellaneous, mixed,
sundry(a)]
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" [syn: calico, multicolor, multicolour, multicolored,
multicoloured, painted, particolored, particoloured,
piebald, pied, varicolored, varicoloured]
n 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" [syn: assortment, mixture, mixed bag, miscellany,
miscellanea, variety, salmagundi, smorgasbord,
potpourri]
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
v 1: make something more diverse and varied; "Vary the menu"
[syn: vary, variegate]
2: make motley; color with different colors [syn: parti-color]
WordNet (r) 2.0
265 Moby Thesaurus words for "motley":
Columbine, Hanswurst, Harlequin, Pantalone, Pantaloon,
Polichinelle, Pulcinella, Punch, Punchinello, Scaramouch,
amalgamated, ambiguous, ambivalent, amphibious, assorted,
assortment, at odds, at variance, ballet skirt, band, bar,
bespangle, bespeckle, bespot, bicolor, bicolored, bladder, blended,
blotch, buffo, buffoon, buskin, calico, cap and bells, capricious,
changeable, changing, check, checker, choppy, chromatic, clouded,
clown, cold, colluvies, colorful, colorific, coloring, colory,
combined, complex, composite, compound, compounded, conglomerate,
contrary, contrasted, contrasting, cool, costume, coxcomb, crazy,
daedal, dapple, dappled, departing, deviating, deviative,
deviatory, dichromatic, different, differentiated, differing,
disaccordant, disagreeing, discolor, discordant, discrepant,
discrete, discriminated, disguise, disjoined, disorderly,
disparate, dissimilar, dissonant, distinct, distinguished,
divaricate, divergent, diverging, divers, divers-colored, diverse,
diversified, diversiform, dot, eclectic, equivocal, erose, erratic,
fifty-fifty, flake, fleck, fool, freckle, gallimaufry, getup,
glowing, half-and-half, harlequin, harmonious, heterogeneous,
hodgepodge, idiot, impulsive, in disagreement, inaccordant,
incompatible, incongruous, inconsistent, inconsonant, inconstant,
indiscriminate, inharmonious, intricate, iris, ironic,
irreconcilable, irregular, jack-pudding, jagged, jerky, jester,
jumble, jumbled, kaleidoscopic, maculate, many, many-colored,
many-sided, marble, marbled, marbleize, masquerade, matching,
medley, mercurial, merry-andrew, mingled, miscellaneous, mixed,
monochromatic, monochrome, monochromic, motley fool, mottle,
mottled, multicolor, multicolored, multicolorous, multifaceted,
multifarious, multihued, multinational, multiracial, mutable,
nonconformist, nonstandard, nonuniform, omnium-gatherum, outfit,
parti-color, parti-colored, pastiche, patchy, pepper,
pepper-and-salt, pickle-herring, piebald, pied, pigmentary, pinto,
pluralistic, poles apart, poles asunder, polychromatic, polychrome,
polychromic, polychromize, prismal, prismatic, promiscuous, ragged,
rainbow, rig, rough, salad, scrambled, separate, separated,
several, shot, shot through, skewbald, slapstick, sock, spangle,
spasmodic, speck, speckle, spectral, splotch, sporadic, spot,
sprinkle, stigmatize, stipple, streak, striate, stripe, stud,
syncretic, tattoo, tessellate, thrown together,
thunder and lightning, tights, tinctorial, tingent, toning,
trichromatic, trichromic, tricolor, tricolored, tutu, two-tone,
unconformable, uncongenial, unequable, unequal, uneven, unlike,
unorthodox, unstable, unsteady, unsystematic, ununiform, variable,
variant, varicolored, varied, variegate, variegated, variform,
various, varying, vein, versicolor, versicolored, warm, wavering,
widely apart, worlds apart, zany
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
Motley, MN (city, FIPS 44422)
Location: 46.33566 N, 94.64325 W
Population (1990): 441 (219 housing units)
Area: 3.2 sq km (land), 0.2 sq km (water)
U.S. Gazetteer (1990)
Motley -- U.S. County in Texas
Population (2000): 1426
Housing Units (2000): 839
Land area (2000): 989.377882 sq. miles (2562.476841 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.430342 sq. miles (1.114580 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 989.808224 sq. miles (2563.591421 sq. km)
Located within: Texas (TX), FIPS 48
Location: 34.084808 N, 100.789688 W
Headwords:
Motley
Motley, TX
Motley County
Motley County, TX
U.S. Gazetteer Counties (2000)
Motley, MN -- U.S. city in Minnesota
Population (2000): 585
Housing Units (2000): 270
Land area (2000): 1.321566 sq. miles (3.422839 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.067839 sq. miles (0.175703 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 1.389405 sq. miles (3.598542 sq. km)
FIPS code: 44422
Located within: Minnesota (MN), FIPS 27
Location: 46.335089 N, 94.645866 W
ZIP Codes (1990):
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Motley, MN
Motley
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000)
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