Speckled describes something covered with many small spots or marks, usually in a colour different from the background. A speckled egg, speckled skin, a speckled brown hen. The picture it gives is of small dots scattered irregularly — not a neat pattern, not stripes, not big blotches. If the dots were in tidy rows you would say 'spotted' or 'dotted'; speckled suggests they happened naturally and are sprinkled about. It is used most often about natural things: eggs, birds' feathers, stones, fish, and about skin — speckled hands, a speckled face from the sun. Food too: speckled bananas, a speckled loaf of bread with seeds in it. It is an adjective and it usually sits in front of the noun ('a speckled egg') though you will also hear it after a linking verb ('the egg was speckled'). You can add what the specks are with 'with': 'speckled with mud', 'speckled with grey'. That pattern is very common and useful. The feeling is neutral or even a bit pleasant — speckled things often sound pretty, like a bird's egg. It does not usually mean dirty.