Mottled describes a surface covered with patches of different colours or shades, mixed together without any pattern — not neat spots in rows, not stripes, just uneven blotches that run into each other. Think of an old marble tabletop, a cat's grey-and-cream coat, autumn leaves turning brown in patches, the light under trees, or the walls of a damp old building where the paint has changed colour.

Mottled describes a surface covered with patches of different colours or shades, mixed together without any pattern用來形容一個表面佈滿了不同顏色或深淺的斑塊，混在一起，沒有規律 not neat spots in rows, not stripes, just uneven blotches that run into each other不是排列整齊的圓點，也不是條紋，只是彼此暈染在一起的不規則斑塊 Think of an old marble tabletop, a cat's grey-and-cream coat, autumn leaves turning brown in patches, the light under trees, or the walls of a damp old building where the paint has changed colour想像一張老舊的大理石桌面、一隻灰白相間的貓的毛、秋天葉子一塊塊變褐色、樹下斑駁的光影、或是一棟潮濕老建築裡油漆變色的牆

Two things are quietly built into this word. First, the patches are irregular; if the marks were tidy and separate you would say spotted or speckled instead. Second, the colours are usually close to each other — greys and browns, greens and yellows — so the effect is soft and blurred rather than sharp.

Two things are quietly built into this word這個字裡悄悄藏著兩件事 First, the patches are irregular; if the marks were tidy and separate you would say spotted or speckled instead第一，斑塊是不規則的；如果那些痕跡整齊又分開，你會說spotted或speckled Second, the colours are usually close to each other — greys and browns, greens and yellows — so the effect is soft and blurred rather than sharp第二，顏色通常彼此很接近——灰色和棕色、綠色和黃色——所以效果是柔和暈開的，而不是分明銳利的

The word is a little literary; you meet it in writing and in careful description more than in everyday chat, and it often carries a faint feeling of age, damp, or illness.

The word is a little literary; you meet it in writing and in careful description more than in everyday chat, and it often carries a faint feeling of age, damp, or illness這個字有點文學性；你在寫作和仔細的描述裡比在日常閒聊裡更常遇到它，而且它常常帶著一種老舊、潮濕、或生病的隱約感覺

Skin is a common use, and there it is not a compliment: mottled skin means blotchy, and doctors use it about skin that has gone patchy and purplish because the blood is not flowing well. But about a stone, a shell, or a horse, it is simply a description, and can be beautiful.

Skin is a common use, and there it is not a compliment: mottled skin means blotchy, and doctors use it about skin that has gone patchy and purplish because the blood is not flowing well皮膚是常見的用法，而且在這裡不是稱讚：mottled skin指的是皮膚一塊一塊的，醫生會用它來形容因為血液循環不好而變得斑駁發紫的皮膚 But about a stone, a shell, or a horse, it is simply a description, and can be beautiful但用在石頭、貝殼、或馬身上，就只是單純的描述，甚至可以很美