MOTLEY Synonyms: 243 Similar and Opposite Words

motley 1 of 2

adjective

ˈmät-lē

as in eclectic

consisting of many things of different sorts a ship with a motley crew of old salts, young adventurers, and shifty characters of all ages

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in colorful

marked by a variety of usually vivid colors a tropical bird with motley plumage

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

motley

2 of 2

noun

as in fool

a person formerly kept in a royal or noble household to amuse with jests and pranks the motleys with their colorful outfits

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in assortment

an unorganized collection or mixture of various things a motley of old junk stored in the attic

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of motley

Adjective

Though the process was led by the city government, a series of competitions yielded a motley and colorful collection of five- to eight-story buildings that house 13,000 residents surrounding a central park. —

Justin Davidson, Curbed, 16 Dec. 2025 Across the street, in a fairly nondescript building containing a motley arrangement of small businesses, sits a small but mighty grocery store. —

Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 12 Dec. 2025

Noun

Kaan kaan wu, with its motley of melds, is where these two tiles from different suits can be used in a clean-sweeping hand. —

Rudy Lee, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2023 This made us—with all our human, mortal limitations—rather like the God of all those past centuries of belief, or should that be credulity: the God who retained and stored away everything in his motley, moveless time, in which nothing was new or old, remote or recent. —

Margaret Jull Costa, Harper’s Magazine , 10 Apr. 2023 See All Example Sentences for motley

Recent Examples of Synonyms for motley

Adjective

Surveil your barmates Inside Berghain, the atmosphere is eclectic and electric.

— Jessica Chapel, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Feb. 2026
Emma Watson may have gone straight into major movies, activism and — more recently — a sustainable gin company, while Daniel Radcliffe has charted a successful — and wonderfully eclectic — path on screen and stage.

— Alex Ritman, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026