[ US /ˈmɑtɫi/ ]
[ UK /mˈɒtli/ ]
NOUN
  1. a collection containing a variety of sorts of things
    he had a variety of disorders
    a veritable smorgasbord of religions
    a great assortment of cars was on display
  2. a multicolored woolen fabric woven of mixed threads in 14th to 17th century England
  3. a garment made of motley (especially a court jester's costume)
ADJECTIVE
  1. consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds
    assorted sizes
    a motley crew
    miscellaneous accessories
    sundry sciences commonly known as social
    assorted sizes
    an arrangement of assorted spring flowers
    a mixed program of baroque and contemporary music
  2. having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly
    a jester dressed in motley
    a particolored dress
    the painted desert
    pied daisies
    a piebald horse
VERB
  1. make something more diverse and varied
    Vary the menu
  2. make motley; color with different colors
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How To Use motley In A Sentence

  • The high tide of adaptationism floated a motley navy, but it may now be on the ebb. Adaptationism
  • Because Selma University was unaccredited, Spring Hill wanted Motley to enter as a freshman, which she found intolerable.
  • Chiefdoms are marked by a motley of villages dotted around them.
  • a scarlet "whittle" over all this motley finery; with a "outwork quoyf or ciffer" (New England French for coiffure) with "long wings" at the side, and a silk or tiffany hood on her drooping head, -- Priscilla in this attire were pretty indeed. Sabbath in Puritan New England
  • So it's great to find this marvellous motley crew still making records and still having something to say. The Sun
  • The motley collection of stables, houses, chandleries, and shanties near the waterfront had been drafted into service as warehouses. LAST CALL
  • But no, they all came in an anorak or windcheater and a untidy motley lot they were.
  • And it succeeds in treating this often delicate subject head-on but with the lightness of touch that you would expect from The Motley Fool.
  • When the complete brigade emerge in full drag from their dressing rooms, they look quite the motley crew.
  • Within the walls of the keep were a motley of low, stone buildings that housed the garrison, supplies, and mounts of the soldiers, engineers and tradesmen that made up the residents of the fortress.
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