noun / verb

splotch

SPLAHCH/splɑtʃ/

An irregular patch of color, or marking something with such patches.

A purple splotch spreads unevenly across the pale cloth napkin.

A single conspicuous, irregular purple stain on a plain off-white cloth napkin, with uneven lobed edges and slight bleeding into the fabric.

Etymology

Splotch originally meant a broad, ill-defined spot, closely matching today's irregular stain or patch. It may blend spot, blot, and/or botch, but its formation is uncertain.

In context

HISTORY14:44

One of the things you can see is a clue as to how this landscape formed in that dark diagonal splotch. That's called the North American wall

DANGER & AWE IN YOSEMITE VALLEY | How The Earth Was Made (S2, E5) | Full Episode | History

More examples

The spilled juice leaves purple splotches on the tablecloth.
She splotches the paper with blue and green paint.
His apron is splotched with dried paint.

Forms

splotch · splotches · splotched · splotching

splotchy adjective — Covered with uneven patches of color.

Similar words

blotch: Often suggests an uneven mark on skin or fabric.
spot: A more general mark, often small and roughly round.
patch: A broader area that need not have irregular edges.