variegated
adjective
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The Colorful History of Variegated
Variegated has been adding color to our language since the 17th century. It is used in botany to describe the presence of two or more colors in the leaves, petals, or other parts of plants, and it also appears in the names of some animals (such as the variegated cutworm). It can be used by the general speaker to refer to anything marked with different colors ("a variegated silk robe," for instance) or to things that are simply various and diverse ("a variegated collection"). Variegated has a variety of relatives in English—it is ultimately derived from the Latin root varius, meaning "varied," which also gave us vary, various, and variety.
Examples of variegated in a Sentence
Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 21 Feb. 2026
Pothos is a popular houseplant favored for its glossy green or variegated leaves.
—Rae Ford, Martha Stewart, 17 Feb. 2026
Around the white, patches of variegated color swell and thin in the way littoral landscapes do—a scrubby green bit here, a sandy pink bit there, a shoal-like shape pushing up into the whiteness.
—Susan Tallman, The Atlantic, 2 Feb. 2026
This enormous cast of characters is diverse mostly in terms of the variegated peculiarity of inner lives.
—Hermione Hoby, New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for variegated
Cite this Entry
“Variegated.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/variegated. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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