spotty

Everyday

1. Spotty means covered with spots or dots, like a spotty dress. tree →
2. Spotty means having pimples on the skin. tree →
3. Spotty (mainly US) can mean not even or not regular, good in some places and bad in others, like a spotty phone signal. tree →

In the lessons

In descriptive writing, a spotty dog or spotty scarf; in health lessons, spots on the skin can come with chickenpox, measles or teenage acne. In everyday life, Wi-Fi or a phone signal can be spotty. Phrases: «spotty skin», «a spotty signal».

Examples

• She wore a spotty yellow raincoat. tree →
• Chickenpox makes your skin spotty and itchy. tree →
• The puppy is white and spotty. tree →
• Teenagers sometimes get spotty faces. tree →
• The signal is spotty out in the country. tree →
• His homework was spotty: some answers were great, some were missing. tree →
• I like your spotty socks! tree →

Note

Adjective: spotty, spottier, spottiest. «Spotted» (with spots) and «spotty» are close, but «spotty» about a person's skin means pimples and can sound unkind. Don't call people spotty; it can hurt feelings.